CT5 Socials
Voice for Whitstable
Local Democracy Group
Update from Local Democracy Group, May 2026
Canterbury City Council (CCC) decided on April 30th to carry out a review of local democracy in the district, asking residents throughout the district for their views. It is doing this because of proposals for local government reform by parliament which will mean the disappearance of both the district council and the county council. They will be replaced by a single Unitary Authority in 2028 with elections next year.
This is the CCC press release which sets out clearly why and how they are carrying out the review. To note here is the date for a public information event in Whitstable which will be at the Horsebridge on Tuesday May 12th from 6pm to 7.30pm. Canterbury and Herne Bay will also have these events and there will be an online event on May 21st. Also of note below is the Council’s extensive FAQs.
Members of the CT5 Local Democracy Group will attend the event and we encourage those interested in this issue to attend as well.
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We formed a new local democracy group in June 2025 when it was clear that the government was going to proceed with its devolution agenda. Our concern was that we would be losing both Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council and they would be replaced by a single council called a Unitary.
We wanted to try our best to ensure that the voice of Whitstable was heard during this transition and afterwards. We did this by working with the Campaign for Democracy in the Canterbury District (CDCD) and others concerned about this change. We know that a new unitary will cover a much larger area than the current city council and that we will have fewer councillors overall representing us. The exception to this is those parts of the district which have parish or town councils. None of the three towns, Canterbury, Herne Bay or Whitstable has a town council.
As mentioned below, many people including councillors who were sceptical about the idea of a town council during our campaign said they would feel differently if a unitary was created. It will certainly be created and all city or county council buildings and spaces will be transferred to the unitary. Our energy and time have been focused on working with other groups to come to a shared position to protect or even improve upon our local democracy after the creation of the unitary.
We are also working with the Whitstable Society to examine and come up with proposals to put to Canterbury City Council to protect the buildings and spaces we all value in the town. We have put together three information sheets which you might find useful to help you get to grips with this confusing set of issues.
The first is a CDCD produced Q and A about the whole set of changes to local government that are happening now. Click here to read the CDCD Q and A
The second is a submission to the City Council asking them to protect our local democracy through this transition and afterwards. Click here to read more about protecting local democracy
The third is a set of proposals to help protect the buildings and spaces in the town that the city and county council now own in the face of their transfer to the new unitary. Click here to read more about protecting community assets
Whitstable Town Council
Update on the campaign for a Town Council by Chris Stanley
Chair of the CT5 People's Forum Town Council group
I'd like to start by thanking everyone who signed our petition and contributed to the City Council's Community Governance Review (CGR) which has now come to an end.
Our petition was successful in reaching the legal threshold to trigger the CGR. At that point, the City Council closed the petition to new signatures. Such was the level of support when we talked to people about the campaign that it was clear that we could have got many more signatures.
Sadly, following consultation with a limited number of local people, the City Council has decided not to proceed with forming a Town Council, despite a majority of respondents in Tankerton and Gorrell wards wanting one. A viable Town Council could have been formed with these two wards.
We are highly critical of the way the CGR and both stages of the consultation were conducted by the City Council and submitted a detailed critque to them.
An encouraging development is the new Labour Government's proposal for devolution to improve the way democracy is brought closer to the people (as mentioned in the King's Speech). We will have to wait for the legislation but it is widely speculated that unitary authorities would become more the norm, possibly replacing Kent County Council and Canterbury City Council. If this happens, even City Councillors sceptical of our Town Council proposal have said they would support the Town Council idea for us.
As Chair of the Town Council group, I am personally disappointed that the City Council did not choose to support our proposal. We do not know why the Council's leadership was against it. Every rural area of the District is parished: there are 27 Parish Councils, so why not Whitstable?
The CT5 Town Council group has worked tirelessly on the campaign, talking to individuals and groups, writing and distributing information and studying other town councils. Our only aim has been to improve things for our community. In our research we looked at town councils in Kent and many other parts of the country. This convinced us that a Town Council would bring enormous benefits to the town at very little cost and remain convinced of the benefits of a Town Council for CT5. For the time being, however, we will continue to work for greater democracy in CT5 and for sustained and reliable support for local groups working to improve the lives of local people. It is in our nature to do so.
Chris Stanley, Chair Town Council Group, October 2024
