A town separated by spiders
Plus new KCC leader chosen, Network Rail finds inclusivity too costly, news in brief, and more
It’s often said that Britain struggles to get anything done, and that’s noticeable around a developing new town in north Kent that has been split apart by a type of spider. We’ve got details below. Further down, we have news of the new leader of Kent County Council, an exclusionary decision by Network Rail in Ashford, news in brief, and more.
A town separated by spiders
Ebbsfleet in 2025 is very much a town of two places. There’s the one that most people in Kent probably know: A giant, formerly international railway station surrounded by empty car parks in the middle of nowhere. Then there’s the 4,500 ‘town’ tucked away a short distance away, which is easy to miss unless you have a specific reason to go there.
Ebbsfleet is, on paper, a model for what a new town should be. Built mainly on brownfield land, with good rail and bus connectivity, near a major road, Bluewater right next door, yet still retaining a relatively quiet residential development of homes, schools, Co-ops, and green spaces.
When complete, its population is supposed to triple, with the existing ‘town’ essentially forming the suburbs and the area around the station set to become Ebbsfleet Central, a thriving centre with hundreds of thousands of metres of employment space and swathes of commercial space for supermarkets, bars, restaurants, and cafes.
The east side of the central zone gained planning permission last year, and procurement contracts are now going out to tender to get the buildings, infrastructure, and utilities the site needs. When complete, this area will substantially differ from its current form, providing a proper town centre for the tens of thousands of residents eventually living there.
At least, that was the plan. If Natural England has their way, the town centre and the suburbs will never link up with each other, forcing any journey between the two to require, optimistically, a walk through a woodland path and down a quiet road next to an empty car park and a landfill, or more realistically, a car or bus journey.
At this point, you might be assuming that there must be something pretty important worth protecting in between the two places for Natural England to block one of the country’s flagship urban developments.
Given the site is largely brownfield, with much of it covered in tarmac, it isn’t the beauty of the natural environment. Instead, it is a species of protected spider that has moved nearby. Nearby is crucial here, as most of the population is north of the site discussed here, on the Swanscombe peninsula. There is another colony further south, with few found in between, the area that was originally to be part of Ebbsfleet Central. However, the area has still been deemed a Site of Special Scientific Interest, presumably so the spiders can travel from one zone to another.
More bizarrely, the breed of spider in question, the ‘distinguished jumping spider,’ isn’t regarded as endangered in this country, nor was it even found in the UK before 2003. It is in the Czech Republic, Norway, and parts of Belgium, but it isn’t here, even though it is only found in certain parts of the southeast. Natural England has no way of considering context, though, and is obliged to protect the area, regardless of the social or economic consequences.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has regularly cited the Ebbsfleet situation as an example of onerous regulations slowing down development. Still, little has changed to get the designation removed or development moving forward. His public comments on the issue have even led to the Kent Wildlife Trust fact-checking him that the spiders haven’t stopped Ebbsfleet from happening, which is technically true. Ebbsfleet will continue to grow around the spider zone, but a big chunk in the middle of it, which was set to be used for employment and open spaces as well as housing, will remain missing for the foreseeable future unless the government changes how these things work.
New leader announced
This evening, 57 figures entered a room to select who will lead them for the foreseeable future. It was no doubt a difficult decision, with a number of competing factions, beliefs, and egos all jockeying for position, but by the end of the day, one of them was chosen.
No, we’re not talking about the papal conclave, but instead, all of Reform’s newly elected councillors met at County Hall tonight to decide who will lead them and Kent County Council. It is unclear at the moment whether KCC’s building is equipped to release white smoke over Maidstone.
Regardless, the group chose Linden Kemkaran, newly minted councillor for Maidstone South East. She is, of course, a former Conservative candidate, but this is her first time holding elected office. Her previous election campaign ended up with her being featured in the Guardian for sharing tweets about Muslims having a ‘nasty culture’ and ‘3rd world ways.’
In more recent years, Kemkaran has been a regular contributor to outlets like The Spectator and the Daily Mail, where she has suggested she should pretend to be trans to get access to medical care, rallied against ‘woke madness,’ argued for a ban on smartphones in schools, and argued against a ban on smartphones in schools.
At this point, it is unclear what the whole leadership team will look like and how the other candidates pushing for the top job will take the news. Maxine Fothergill of Sevenoaks Rural North put herself forward for the role as part of a job share with Romney Marsh councillor David Wimble.
Wimble was one of the first out of the gates in an exercise of expectation management following Reform’s big win last week. He appeared on BBC Politics South East to point out that some voters were asking him when Reform were going to ‘stop the boats,’ something he was eager to clarify was beyond the power of KCC. However, that did not stop Reform candidates in his own district from campaigning on a promise of stopping the boats.
Reform faces a challenging task in managing a financially struggling council. Most of their group have no previous political experience, and now they are responsible for social care, education, roads, public health, and lots more. It’s going to be a very steep learning curve.
Have a Kent story you think we might be interested in? Get in touch via hello AT kentcurrent DOT news - We’re always happy to talk off the record in the first instance.
Network Rail decides inclusivity is too expensive
When is inclusion not worth bothering with? When it costs too much money, apparently. That’s the position from Network Rail, who are in the process of replacing two pedestrian level crossings near Ashford. They previously planned to replace the crossings with a ramped bridge but have now deemed that too costly, so they will replace them with a stepped one instead.
As a result, what was a flat pedestrian crossing will now be rendered inaccessible to those with wheelchairs, mobility aids, pushchairs, or cyclists, who will now face a detour of around 1.5 miles to reach the same point on the other side of the tracks everyone else will be able to manage in a couple of minutes.
A previous design was approved by Ashford Borough Council in 2023, which included fully accessible ramped accesses on both sides. Admittedly, the bridge's footprint was very large as a result, and many residents next to the bridge objected to the plans at the time, often citing the construction traffic that would be required through residential streets.
More recently, Network Rail has submitted a new application for a stepped bridge that takes up a much smaller footprint and, perhaps more crucially for them, saves them money: ‘Following a review of funding allocated to the project, it was established that the approved footbridge was not deliverable due to costs.’
Network Rail goes on to argue that an inclusive crossing is not necessary at the site because the existing level crossings, despite being level, aren’t particularly accessible. They are on rural footpaths with inclines and stiles, meaning those travelling on foot can only really reach them. This may be true, but it’s also somewhat disingenuous.
Both sides of the rail line are undergoing extensive development, with planning permission granted for hundreds of homes, a primary school, shops, a gym, a bowling green and lots more. So while part of the area might be rural in nature today, it isn’t likely to be for much longer. Once the developments are complete, residents on foot will be able to cross over the line with ease, while anyone else faces a half an hour detour. Or, more likely, they’ll jump in the car instead, precisely what this kind of crossing is supposed to reduce in the first place.
In brief
🏘️ Canterbury City Council officers are recommending councillors to approve a 300 home development in Littlebourne. The council previously refused a 115 home development on the same site in 2021.
⛳ Campaigners in Snodland are fighting against a 150 home development, conference centre, and football pitches on an abandoned golf course. They claim the site is dangerous because it’s near a landfill, despite no evidence of this being the case.
🏛️ The Community Governance Reviews are coming thick and fast with the impending abolition of Kent’s district councils. This time, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council are looking at setting up a Tonbridge Town Council.
🗣️ A Thanet Conservative councillor quit the group after being suspended for supporting an independent candidate in a by-election. Cliftonville East councillor Barry Manners gave scathing comments about his former group to the Isle of Thanet News.
🌹 A little further around the coast, Labour has kicked out their Deputy Leader of Dover District Council. Cllr Jamie Pout says MP Mike Tapp reported him to the party for using social media to support rival candidates, something he strongly denies. Another Labour councillor in Dover, Stacey Blair, has resigned in solidarity.
🏥 East Kent Hospitals have paid almost £5m in compensation to patients over medical negligence claims since 2019. This means the group, which includes the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, William Harvey in Ashford, and QEQM in Margate, has paid out more than any other NHS trust in the country.
🚑 Former Thanet South MP and Medway councillor Craig Mackinlay has spoken about his near-fatal battle with sepsis. Macklinay lost both of his arms and legs after he contracted the condition in 2023.
🛬 A World War 2 spitfire crashlanded in a field near Hythe. The owner described the incident as a ‘precautionary landing,’ which is one way to describe a plane falling out of the sky.
🎓 The University of Kent has been shortlisted for University of the Year at the National Employability Awards. The recognition comes as staff at the institution continue to strike over job cuts and the abolition of courses.
🏪 KentOnline has been to speak to traders in Herne Bay who are unhappy about everything. They cite lack of footfall from high car parking charges, too many empty shops, and the wrong kinds of shops opening in said empty shops.
🏬 Not to be outdone, the Daily Mail are outraged that Canterbury is ‘losing its heritage.’ This seems to be primarily because their reporter visited and found six (6) phone and vape shops in the city.
🫁 Kent Trading Standards has recorded more incidents of vapes being sold to children in Kent than any other part of the UK. According to data from the BBC, Kent had nearly twice the number of incidents as the second-placed area.
🛍️ Next is set to become one of the anchor tenants at Bluewater as the retailer takes over the former House of Fraser unit in the centre. The move will see the store triple in size from its current location within the complex.
🏗️ The Forum shopping centre in Sittingbourne is set to transform with new shops, cafes, and flats built on the roof.
🎡 Ashford Designer Outlet wants to install a ferris wheel in their car park. The wheel would operate for up to six months of the year.
⚽ Maidstone United have made it to the promotion finals for National League North and South and will play Scunthorpe on 18 May to decide who is elevated to the National League.
⚽ Elsewhere, Dover Athletic defeated Dartford in the Isthmian League Premier Division playoff final, meaning they will be promoted to the National League South.
🪖 Saga Magazine has been exploring the Ramsgate Tunnels with people who originally worked there during World War 2.
More Currents
Every May Day, Morris dancers and pagan curious residents gather in Kent at dawn for Jack in the Green festivities. Steven Keevil set his alarm for 4am to go along and find out more.
Invented traditions
Since 1983, people have met at 5am on Blue Bell Hill on the first of May for the ‘Jack in the Green’ tradition. Steven went along to find out what happens at the picnic spot, how traditional all this is, and a Shooter’s sandwich.
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Whenever I read about the giant new theme park in Bedford and the jobs it’ll bring, I cannot help but gnash my teeth at the Ebbsfleet spiders and Natural England’s role in delivering the final coup de grace to London Paramount. 😭
Aside from Starmer dog-whistling out of his arse, and putting aside the potential loss of planned Ebbsfleet Central 'West' facilities for the moment, Ebbsfleet Development Company do now own the existing transport routes between the existing housing and Central East. And Fastrack already runs between the two. So in connectivity terms, it's easily less than a (whisper it, there be trolls in the walls) 15-minute town already once this next phase is complete.