Swale Borough Council

Pic: Tim Oxley and Melissa Herbert from the SBC Stray Dog Team

Swale Borough Council’s stray dog service has been highlighted as one of the best in the country by the RSPCA for the eleventh year in a row.

The service has been awarded the Gold Pawprint Award, which recognises good practice in animal welfare by local authorities in England and Wales. Alongside this award, the council has also been awarded the Gold Pawprint Award for Contingency Planning for the fourth year in a row.

People still have a few days to submit their opinion on the proposed changes to Swale Borough Council’s housing allocation policy.

The policy aims to provide a fair and transparent system that prioritises social housing by making efficient use of the homes available, promoting choice to applicants and developing sustainable mixed communities.

Agreed by the council's cabinet for public consultation in June, the eight-week consultation ends this coming Friday, (2nd October).

Councillors have approved powers that allow Swale Borough Council to issue Fixed Penalty Notices to people who leave their vehicle idling while not in use.

Small businesses in the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry could be eligible for support from Swale Borough Council’s second round of discretionary grants.

The second round of the discretionary grants scheme is aimed at those businesses who directly support Swale’s visitor economy and who haven’t yet qualified for any government grants to support them through the impact of COVID-19.

Town centre visitors across the Borough will now get 30 minutes extra on all parking tickets bought at Council run town centre car parks, from Saturday (18th July)

Councillors approved an urgent motion at last night's (Wednesday 15th July) Annual Meeting of Swale Borough Counci (SBC).

It's a temporary measure and will be in place until Wednesday 30th as part of the authority's response to the coronavirus pandemic, utilising a government 'New Burdens' grant to pay for the concession.

A statement released earlier today Swale Borough Council announced that their Chief Executive, Mark Radford, has died.

Mark had been undergoing treatment for cancer since last year, but during a recent stay in hospital, he contracted coronavirus. This proved to be one fight too many, and he passed away yesterday (Thursday 28th May).

The first 776 local businesses that have applied for business rate relief grants from Swale Borough Council will be receiving payments worth £8.9 million between them later this week.

The council wrote to 2,600 eligible businesses in the borough with details on how to apply for the grants, which are part of the government's measures to support small businesses and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through the period of disruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19).

There has been a lot of discussion and debate recently about what is deemed an "essential" worker or service, and Swale Borough Council have confirmed that the same has been happening with their operations in an official statement issued today.

Swale Borough Council has decided to suspend Brown Bin collections until further notice during this Coronavirus outbreak.

Swale Borough Council are asking for volunteers to help support vulnerable people during the coronavirus outbreak.

The council has been asked by the government to coordinate how to get support out to the most vulnerable people in the community.