Dover News - November 2008

A major expansion of the recycling service from Dover District Council started today (Monday 3 November) - with the expansion of kerbside collections for households across the district to now include cardboard and plastic bottles.

What should Connaught Barracks become? That is just one of the questions that the team from English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency behind the development of the former Connaught Barracks, will be asking in the first stages of the public consultation strategy launched this week.

A haul of 700 kilos of 'speed' (amphetamines) and over 120 kilos of cannabis, destined for Northampton, have been seized and stopped from reaching UK streets following robust action by officers from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) at Dover's Eastern docks.

Chimney sweeps, chamber maids, and a range of colourful costumed characters from times gone by are being welcomed to Dover Town Hall on Monday and Tuesday (10/11 November) when schools from across Kent return for the popular Victorian Festival.

Kent Police has charged a man with attempted murder following the stabbing of a 24 year old man in Dover in the early hours of Thursday 31 July.

As part of a new flexible warranting initiative, inspectors from Local Authorities across Kent, including Dover District Council, are joining forces with the Health and Safety Executive on a series of visits to workplaces on industrial sites and other locations to assess standards of health and safety management.

Sherry Ward, 34, of Kimberley Walk, Dover appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on 4 November having been committed for sentence for two offences of benefit fraud involving Dover District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Local residents have been invited to talk about 'Street Scene: Making our Neighbourhoods Cleaner, Greener and Safer' at a joint meeting of the Dover North and Dover West Neighbourhood Forums.

Dover District Council's Cabinet has agreed to consult on a provisional budget for 2009/10. The budget balances over the next three years and provides quality growth for the district's regeneration plans.

New planning procedures are being brought in by Dover District Council from 1 December, aimed at bringing greater certainty and faster turnaround to answering questions about whether planning permission is needed for a whole range of developments across the district.

Mason Stephens, 33, a lorry driver of St Michael Street, Folkestone, was jailed on Friday (21 November 2008) at Canterbury Crown Court for seven years and three months for attempting to smuggle over 9.9kgs of cocaine into the UK. The estimated street value of the drugs is £480,000.

Following the successful Reach for the Sky event this summer, attended by more than 30 parents, carers and professionals interested in the welfare of disabled children in Dover District, a follow up event is being held this Friday (28 November).