Thanet will submit to government a preferred option for four unitary councils covering Kent and Medway under plans for reorganisation of local government.
Under the current system Kent County Council (KCC) delivers some services like education, social services and roads, and district or borough councils deliver others like emptying your bins and providing housing services.
In the proposed system, unitary councils would deliver all council services in one area. Medway Council operates in that way today.
The reorganisation will mean all 14 councils will be abolished and replaced with a smaller number of much larger unitary bodies.
A number of draft cases have been compiled with the help of experienced advisers KPMG, explore different options for the number of unitary councils in Kent and the areas they should cover in the future.
A meeting of Thanet councillors this week opted for business case 4B.
This is for four unitary councils consisting of Dartford, Gravesham and Medway in the north; Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells in the west; Swale, Ashford and Folkestone and Hythe in the middle of Kent and Canterbury, Thanet and Dover in the east.
The Thanet, Dover, Canterbury option would cover a population of 424,559.
Council leader Rick Everitt said he felt the four unitary model was ‘the better option’ but made clear that the final decision will lay with the Secretary of State following public consultation.
He said: “Option 4b is cleaner, tidier and more compact for east Kent. It allows a level of council representation that is realistic in line with keeping unitaries to a manageable size.”
There was majority support for the 4b option but it was not unanimous.
Thanet Green Party make a decision to abstain from the vote, with party leader Cllr Tricia Austin saying that although option 4b (where Thanet would join with Canterbury and Dover) was in their view the ‘least worst’ option they had too many reservations about the process to wish to endorse it.
She said the concept was “too fast, too big and too concerned about money.”
Main concerns were the large size of each unitary, the rush to push the process through, the motivation to save cash and the fact that whatever Thanet council said, the decision would be made by central government.
Fellow Green councillor Becky Wing described it as having to decide between “four different diseases and having to choose the least worst disease.”
She added that the ‘elephant in the room’ was the fact that there would be no additional funding from government.
The case was also put for option 3a which is for three unitary councils consisting of Dartford, Gravesham, Medway and Swale in the north; Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells in the west and Ashford, Canterbury, Thanet, Dover and Folkestone and Hythe in the east.
This option would cover a population of 677,906.
This was favoured by several Conservative members, including Cllr George Kup and Cllr Rhys Pugh.
Cllr Kup said: “I voted against 4B as I believe 3A offers the strongest and most workable balance between financial stability and having a real local voice. None of the options are perfect, but 3A gives us the capacity to deliver services, attract investment and still protect local identity.
“I understand why some favour the four-unitary ideas, especially in Thanet, but people deserve more than just a voice – they deserve a council strong enough to act on it. “Smaller structures often lack that strength, and a single county-wide authority (put forward by KCC) would take decisions even further away. 3A gives Thanet a clearer and more influential and sustainable platform within East Kent, which is why it’s the most credible option for the future.”
Summing up Cllr Everitt said all 14 councils want the benefits of devolution to replace “the messy” system currently in operation.
He said a unitary council will be ‘more efficient’ and easier for people to understand with all services falling under one authority.
Councils have to submit their preferred option by November 28.
Following this, the Government will carry out a consultation process with stakeholders and the public, scheduled to begin in the new year.
The final decision from government on a selected option and geography is expected in Summer 2026.
The option put forward is well below the Government’s recommended population minimum of 500,000 so why have they bothered putting it forward ? It makes no sense.
Because they didn’t bother reading the rules properly? Either that or they’re open for another 75,000 illegal immigrants and DFL’s to make up the numbers.
Anything would be an improvement. As soon as I step over the border and visit towns like Herne Bay, Whitstable, Sandwich and Deal, I notice how much cleaner they are, and the fact that public toilets are open all year round.
Yes I was out in Deal recently and their coastal toilets are open until 7 or 8pm every single day apart from Christmas Day. If we can get a similar level of service when we merge then that can only be a good thing. And the seafront area from Deal to Walmer was spotless with plenty of bins everywhere.
Can only speak for Sandwich, but our Town Council (STC) pay to maintain the public toilets and keep them open all year.
Checkers your public toilets obsession is deeply concerning.
Can’t wait for your next book, cottaging on the North Kent coast.
Splish, splash splosh.
I hope you have bladder problems one day.
Here we go again taking away local peoples voices all we need is a town council for Margate become more communist with this government what about the future of local elected councillors no need to change at the expense of tax payers Brian Smith Stewart
It was much better when Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Margate had their own town councils. Much more accessible, and a much better service all round.
Does noone remember the disaster that was East Kent Housing?
This will end badly
This is the numbskull option, what are Rick Everitt and his group thinking?
IT IS FAR TOO SMALL! AND THE PROBLEMS TOO
LARGE.
As for the Green Party you were elected on the basis of solving problems, not wringing your hands and complaining everything is too difficult. Yes, councils are underfunded, and no reorganisation in whatever form will not solve it, but what we have now is hopelessly inefficient and inadequate.
I know why they did this.EK5 was such a failed project,because Folkestone and hythe and Ashford would not be seen in the same room as Thanet, and this the result.
Look there should be 3 unitaries only, the population of Kent is 1.8 m, that’s 600,000 apiece. the current District and Medway borders doesn’t have to be adhered too, in order to divide up the county effectively.
Let’s face it East Kent is going to struggle, as will any Unitary containing Swale, because of the lack of progress on deprivation. Making East Kent too small will only makes things worse.
Trouble is Steve Reed is Sec of State, nit Angela, and Dr Do Nothing is likely to try to put a cordon sanitary around Thanet by allowing this shambles, and in so doing ruin what’s left of Dover, and Canterbury. Hopefully, his civil servants will lock him in the broom cupboard, and sign up to a 3 Unitary scheme for Kent.
As for the eternal questions about toilets, I think you find that the various Town Councils cough up to pay for them.Minimum cost £40k apiece.
You want toilets open 365 days per annum, pay more tax.
I’ll settle on 364 days, like Deal and Walmer.
and Council Tax at TDC is already more expensive than Dover Council and we get far far less than their residents do. Maybe they just spend theirs more sensibly ?
Thanetian Blind – and do not overspend by £1.4 million on waste services! Nobody has admitted their part in this debacle.
For Thanet, the best option would be to unify only with Dover and Shepway. A wholly coastal constituency with similar needs. Thanet has nothing in common with Canterbury or Ashford. 4b will simply centralise the money and decision making in Canterbury. I’ve seen it happen in Civil Service departmental restructuring for 35 years.
Tax rates are broadly similar across all the districts. Deal and Walmer TCs contribute substantially towards the running costs of the toilets, and it is a perpetual running battle between DDC and them, so nothing is perfect PC.
All you have to do is get Birchington to do the same as Deal & Walmer, as well as encourage Margate to stop bludging on the rest of Thanet, and the lid will lift on your toilet perfection.You must be the person who bid on that golden toilet as you introduce the subject of toilets at every turn.
No, not a coastal council as that will only fail like the version that TDC signed up to. 4 Districts minimum, with Faversham to make an East Kent Unitary.
I think you will find that the new Unitary will drop toilets and branch libraries on to the Town and Parishes aa Cornwall did to Newquay and others in the west country.
Birchington and Minnis Bay toilets ARE open all-year round. My problem is the lengthy section beween Margate and Broadstairs.
Of course, if you actually got outdoors more instead of spending your time telling female politicians to “Shut Up” while hiding behind your computer, you’d know this already.
I am outside now and politicians ought not to express opinions they can’t sustain with evidence.You are getting snarky again, you always snipe when your knowledge is under analysis. As I said get Margate to pull their weight and your precious toilets might stay open. As you seem so keen on toilets perhaps you could write a book on the subject to go with all those others you have written.
Unlike you I restrain my inner misogynist, but I have a low expectation of politicians which is I suggested that Polly B pipes down.
If Unitary civilisation is to reach Rast Kent after a 50 year gestation, then any scheme has to be based on viability and ease of administration and that means having its capital in Canterbury. Canterbury is central and is the natural nerve centre of East Kent, any other variation will be dismissed out of hand by the MHCLG.
It’s not up to me to “get Margate” to open their toilets… and have a bit more respect for those of us with hidden disabilities. You might have one some day.
I have but I don’t make a fuss about them.I am afraid it’s called getting old, I don’t like it but the alternative is too terrible to contemplate.
The alternate to having toilets open all year round “is too terrible to contemplate”?
You’ve lost me.
No,being dead is the alternative to growing old with a growing amount of disablement or pain.You are obtuse sometimes Checksfield. What I am saying is count your blessings and stop moaning.You live in a stable, rich country, with a temperate climate. You are not in danger of being killed by a Russian drone, like the poor devils in Ukraine, nor living under an arbitary, bloodstained theocracy, like Iran, or in the middle of a civil war between two groups of war criminals as in Sudan. When you look back during the festive period as many of us do, we can see many positives, to set against the farcical bungling of TDC and KCC (where did that phrase originate anyone?).
Oh yeah, I’m a proud and happy Jewish lad.
But I still don’t see why that people who live just 9 minutes away by train should get a better standard of services than we do.
And your point is?
9 minutes by train can get you quite a distance. Look I have told you how expensive it is to keep toilets open 364/5 days per annum.Margate doesn’t have a Town council and they may not think paying for toilets so somebody from Birchington or anywhere else can use a toilet an expense they should bear.
TDC has been trying to offload toilets for years,because of the cost.It could have done so if it had been prepared to negotiate with the Town/Parish councils, but they didn’t. Instead they stonewalled, refused to talk reasonably and always insisted on their way or no way.TDC acted like this partially because of politics,but mainly because they live in a management silo.
The best hope is to press on with Unitary council formation and to have open discussions between the new council and its Town and Parish councils on these matters.
Exactly that. Good riddance TDC, vile people who hate the disabled.
Birchington WC Radar key entry is padlocked when toilets locked up
Kent needs a coastal unitary authority, from Swale round to Dover, with proper specialist focus and grant funding opportunities for our coastal areas, all of who face the same challenges. An authority focused on the coast makes the most sense for the county.
All of these options look like local government by excel. Let’s toss up all the towns until the headcount fits into the planning assumptions, and it is no way to govern. The TDC preferred option simply follows recent NHS area rationalisation and that’s hardly been a comfort or success.
Stop governing based on neatness and start governing based on need and strategic logic.
If everyone in local government across Kent thinks all of the options are poor options what on earth are we doing it for? Endless variations on the map feels like pointless change that will take years to implement and millions to deliver once the GMB get their teeth into endless objections and inevitable redundancy costs.
A good idea, but I’d go further than Dover, as it wouldn’t include Folkestone, Hythe and Dymchurch… how about to Dungeness?
Everyone is entitled to their opinion in this matter.All the councils will put in their pennyworth and the MHCLG will decide.
There will be some kind of public consultation,most of which will be ignored and then the cogs and wheels of govt will start to roll. Expect to see phony phone polls conducted by Kent online or some such outfit, various petitions, and expressions of outrage with pictures of angry OAPS,and demands to keep more toilets open from Checksfield.
The big questions are,how do we fund decent public services, and how does England receive proper devolved government, which isn’t always restricted by the Westminster bubble.
Everything else is merely parochialism from people who think only they or people like them should be allowed to run things.