Mike Sole Reporting Back: February 2026

Canterbury City Council have now published the final draft of the Local Plan so that it can be approved before it passes into what is known as regulation 19 when it is assessed for soundness and compliance by the Planning Inspectorate. This Local Plan is so very different from the first draft put forward three years ago when the Conservatives ran the council which included plans for a new town in Adisham and the very unpopular scheme to restrict traffic movements in Canterbury by creating zones - both ideas now completely removed from the plan.

Most significantly, following on from many months of consultations and reviews, sites at the University of Kent, Hollow Lane and Rattington Street have been removed and there is a significant increase in amount of brownfield development.

As the Cabinet member for Finance on the City Council, I was pleased to bring forward the budget for next year that was agreed without any amendments being proposed by the opposition parties. In order to tackle fly-tipping I announced a significant reduction in the costs of bulky was collections, with now up to 3 items being taken for £50 and then just £10 for additional items. It was previously £25 an item so we hope that this will encourage the use of this service rather than unlicensed waste carriers that can lead to fly-tipping.

This was all very different to the Kent County Council budget meeting that lasted eight hours. I proposed an amendment to the KCC budget to increase the expenditure of pothole repairs, but the Reform administration decided to instead spend the money on political assistants. Similar amendments to increase expenditure of speech & language therapists and reduce the cost of 16+ school transport were also not supported by the administration.

I continue to work with parish councils and KCC on highway improvements. We had a very productive meeting discussing options to improve road safety in Lower Hardres.

With the Nailbourne flowing I am in regular contact with the City Council engineering team who are coordinating much of the works. 

I attended a meeting of the Kent & Medway Fire Authority where the budget was agreed. I have also had regular briefing from the city council about the fire at The Odeon Cinema.

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