Local News

The GMB Union has raised fears over the parent company of Stonegate Pubs, who owns a number of local "watering holes" and their current refinancing bid.

Almost 200 Stonegate pubs across Kent could be “at risk” of closure after private equity parent company TDR capital seeks to refinance £2.5 billion of debt the union warns.

Some local pubs that could be affected include The Beauty Of Bath, Bunters, The Red Lion  and The Vineyard in Sittingbourne along with The Sun Inn in Bredgar and The Fruiterers Arms in Rodmersham.

The Three Hats in Milton Regis, The Old Wine Vault and The Phoenix pubs in Faversham and The Flying Dutchman in Queenborough are also owned by the group.

Stonegate is one of the largest pub operators in the UK with more than 4,500 pubs across the country,

The GMB say that they are worried refinancing could lead to “crippling payments”, resulting in cuts in hours for staff, health and safety and a “rise in a toxic culture of bullying and harassment”.

Gary Lindsay, boss of TDR Capital, which also owns Asda supermarket, was before The Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday (9th January) and told them that he was ‘confident’ that the £2.6billion of debts in the Stonegate Pub Company could be refinanced this year.

The union is claiming that huge interest payments on TDR Capital’s debts have already resulted in cost pressures at Asda, resulting in “cuts in hours for staff, cutting corners on health and safety and a rise in a toxic culture of bullying and harassment”. This has led to a vote for strike action at Asda's Gosport store in Hampshire.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called, at around 5:00pm, to reports of a fire at a flat yesterday (Thursday 11th January) evening.

Two fire engines attended and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, extinguished the flames at the residential property on Caithorpe Close on the Regent Quay development.

Firefighters also used a high-pressured fan to clear the property of smoke. 

The cause is not yet known. 

A suspect has been detained by neighbourhood officers following reports of a robbery and theft in Sittingbourne.

On Saturday 16th December 2023, a man was walking in the High Street when he was allegedly threatened by a man he did not know. The victim handed over a quantity of cash and later alerted the police.

Later the same day, meat valued at more than £40 was reportedly stolen from the Co-op in Gadby Road. On Thursday 28th December, constables from the town’s community safety unit were on patrol in the High Street area when they arrested a man.

Max Martin, of The Meadows, Sittingbourne was later charged by detectives with robbery and theft of meat. 

The 40-year-old appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Friday (29th December).

He was remanded to a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on 26th January 2024.

Swale Borough Council is deploying uniformed marshals to help keep Sheerness and Sittingbourne town centres safe.  

The street marshals, who will be operating over the school holidays, are one of several initiatives being rolled out as part of the Safer Streets campaign.    

The council, through the Community Safety Partnership, worked with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to secure the funding needed for the campaign from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund.  

The marshals will wear body cameras and have radios connected through Swale Link to the council’s CCTV centre, which they can contact if any issues arise.   

Swale Borough Council will also be promoting being an active bystander as part of the project.  

The council recently teamed up with Kent Police and the charity SATEDA to visit licensed premises in Sittingbourne to speak with staff and members of the public about the initiative.  

It means you should take:   

• Direct action: call out negative behaviour, tell the person to stop and ask the victim if they’re ok.  
• Distract: interrupt, start a conversation with the perpetrator, use an excuse like asking the time!   
• Delegate: if you don’t feel you can get involved, ask someone else to (bar staff, bouncer).  
• Delay: if it’s too dangerous, call the police and wait for the situation to pass, then check on the victim.

The money will be invested into measures in the town Centres that will help tackle the higher level of crime, ASB and violence against women and girls, such as:-

• funding for additional youth programs, that can challenge the behaviour and perceptions of young people towards crime  
• new fixed site security cameras and three Rapid Deployment CCTV Cameras  
• more lighting, CCTV, and other general improvements to specified parks and open spaces, creating a safer environment for the children of the area while also discouraging antisocial behaviour in green spaces 
• investment into a Community Engagement Programme for the Beachfields area, to enable greater community ownership and activity within the space.  
• increasing community guardianship activities within these areas, including the introduction of these Street Marshalls whose work will help to keep the streets safer  
• offering Active Bystander training to people who work at night in the town centre and members of the public, which gives them the knowledge and skills to safely challenge the unacceptable behaviour of others in public  
• investment into Swale Link, which helps prevent crime by providing businesses with ways to share information about incidents. Including reports of shop lifters and anti-social behaviour, by providing radio equipment for them to stay connected with other businesses  
• additional monitoring of empty premises that attract antisocial behaviour. For example, the empty Sheerness library now has window shuttering and will receive some new fencing.

The measures have started and will continue to run until March 2025.    

Cllr Richard Palmer, the chair of the community committee, told SFM News: “We are incredibly proud to have successfully bid for this funding from the government’s Safer Streets fund through our Community Safety Partnership. We have set out a detailed plan of what we want to achieve with this money, and it is amazing to see the first steps we are taking. The ultimate goal is to reduce antisocial behaviour, and in particular, combat violence against women and girls. We know that these new measures, including the two street Marshalls, will make Sittingbourne and Sheerness town centres a safer place to be.”