Tim Prater Reporting Back from KCC: November 2025
As a Councillor I try to be properly responsive to communication and WILL reply to casework, questions etc (as long as they are polite!). Although voicemail, Messenger, WhatsApp and the rest I try to keep on top of, the best will be to email to me, preferably to tim@prater.uk from where I can send it to the correct one of my 5 Councillor email accounts for action!
If you haven't had a reply back from me in a couple of WORKING days please come back to me (the person that emailed me New Years Day with a casework peeve some years ago did get a reply that day, but my Christmas holidays have improved since!). Certainly if you've had no reply at all in 4 working days, please do check the address you sent it to and re contact me - that's not the way I roll, so something may have gone awry. Finally, although I answer to Mr Prater, Cllr and a few other names, I'd much prefer Tim!
I am planning to ensure an update from me goes through (almost) all doors in the division 3 times a year, but you can also find more regular updates from me online at http://www.prater.uk/ and https://www.facebook.com/timprater
Finally - sign up on the form at the bottom of https://www.fhld.uk/news/prater to receive monthly Councillor Updates from me and the Lib Dem team in Folkestone & Hythe. It's fast and free! This will sign you up only to local news from the area, NOT campaigns and campaigning events.
November 2025 Action List
Remembrance weekend is always a bit special. I'll be (as I have for the past decade) at St Pauls Church in Sandgate at 10am on Remembrance Sunday for the annual Service, then at 10.55am at the Sandgate War Memorial for the Act of Remembrance there.
This year I have received invitations to the simultaneous Remembrance services at Saltwood, Hythe and Folkestone as well as Sandgate: apologies to all those I could not make! I will also attend the Machine Gun Corps service in Cheriton Road Cemetery on 11th November itself. All services are open to all: it you can please do come along, and remember them.
The first week of November was a busy one, with a Cabinet Committee & Full Council meeting in Maidstone.
Environment and Transport Committee
Items included:
- Southern Water Presentation (Southern Water telling us they know its broken, but they are trying to fix it, but it will take years https://kent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1024912/start_time/2212000?force_language_code=en_GB and https://kent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1024912/start_time/2403000?force_language_code=en_GB)
- Briefing on Waste (Recycling is much cheaper for taxpayers than dealing with residual waste, which Kent burns. Burning waste will become more expensive soon, due to a new tax on doing so. Kent now recycled mess than the average for South East England authorities, having been about the same 6 years ago https://kent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1024912/start_time/9177000?force_language_code=en_GB )
- Briefing on Green Finance (We should go and have a look to see if any of these ideas might work in Kent. Agreed.)
- Water Supply and Sustainability Report (We should have one. Agreed.)
- Highways Emergency Tree Works Contract (There are currently contracts in place for emergency tree works for trees on the Highway etc in Kent, the contract expires in the next year or so and we should have new contracts. After some discussion on the areas to be covered, agreed.).
- Procurement for the Receipt and Processing of Wood Waste Contract Countywide (mainly wood from recycling centres)
- Energy Efficiency Plan (named by one colleague as the "I can't believe this isn't the Net Zero Plan". On questioning we couldn't identify a single scheme of current piece of work commissioned under the previous Net Zero plan that this would stop. The report also made it clear that Net Zero schemes had to date saved Kent County Council many millions of pounds to date https://kent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1024912/start_time/207000 . The £7.5m "efficiency" claimed on not replacing vehicles with electric vehicles rather fell apart when that was shown as the total cost of fleet replacement, so even if you don't replace them with electric, you'll need almost all of that budget to replace them with something, or much higher annual costs to keep knackered vehicles on the road).
After an update on Highways works, I thanked the Cabinet Member for recent resurfacing works in The Undercliff, Sandgate which were great as far as they went (and include a section of surface reinforcement where the road was becoming a “falling down the hill” hazard, so essential) but asked why they stopped one metre short of a clear and obvious pothole which they have now marked up to come back to. https://kent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1024912/start_time/5833000?force_language_code=en_GB
Although I understand it's essential to specify jobs carefully, by leaving work like this it costs more to come back than it would have done to complete the job in the first place…
On 10th November, there is a Joint Transport Board (JTB) meeting online updating on the progress on various schemes (and the work programme still sows the resurfacing of Romney Avenue planned to commence 18/3/25).
News of Interest:
Kent County Council Press Releases in November:
Folkestone & Hythe District Council Press Releases in November:
https://www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/news/article/377/folca-1-goes-on-sale
A monthly bulletin from F&HDC. This month: Funding to help homelessness, LGR, Design codes, Rural reminder, Zero hour, Death of former chair of council, Levelling Up, Award-winning, Folkestone Library and St Eanswythe’s head.