Mike Sole Reporting Back: May 2026

Well May has certainly been busy, eventful and enjoyable.

Early on the month the Liberal Democrat group on Canterbury City Council left the coalition with the Labour Party, who are now running a minority administration. This means that I am no longer the deputy leader of Canterbury City Council and that Liberal Democrats no longer hold cabinet positions. 

May is always a busy month of Parish Council Annual Meetings. It is always good to see many residents at these meetings, and many had interesting guest speakers. During the month I attended meetings at Barham, Lower Hardres, Thanington, Upper Hardres, Kingston and Chartham.

At KCC I attended a meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee and also the full council meeting – you may have seen some of the headlines from this meeting, including that the Reform administration have changed the constitution so that Council meetings start with the Lord’s Prayer and end with the singing of The National Anthem. I spoke against both of these changes, as whilst there is a time and place for both, I do not believe that place is the council chamber.

I was pleased to attend the unveiling of the new village sign in Petham and launch the Bishopsbourne Church fundraising event. I continue to follow up with Canterbury City Council the issues of public open space land at St Augustines, Chartham and also the continuing concerns in Barham about potential planning breaches along Valley Road.

Changes to KCC travel assistance for those aged 16+ with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities are a worry many families. There seems to have been an increase in miss bins and bins left in the wrong place recently – get in touch if I can help with these issues.

KCC, the police and National Highways have met to discuss safety improvements at the A2 slip road following further accidents on Bifrons Hill – I’ve been pushing for changes and will provide further updates when known.

I have been chasing KCC about the promised improved bus service in Thanington. Developers have paid the money to KCC, but KCC don’t have a plan.

New bus shelters are planned at Beech Ave, St Augustines and at Bramling near the Haywain

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