Capel Parish Council

14/08/2026

Village Hall Update
The Parish Council went out to tender for the contact to refurbish the Village Hall in June. An Evaluation Panel made up of Parish Councillors and Capel Community Association Trustees scored the submissions during a process which was moderated by the procurement framework, PAGABO. The Evaluation Panel recommended the award of Part 1 of the Two Stage Design and Build contract to Baxall Construction. The Parish Council accepted the recommendation of the Evaluation Panel at its July meeting.
The Parish Council will be working with Baxalls over the coming months and hope to commence building works early Summer 2027 if all goes to plan.
We intend to keep you fully updated. Louise (Parish Clerk)

14/07/2026

Good morning,

I am writing to share an important update regarding the conclusion of Ofwat’s investigation into our historical supply disruptions between 2020 and 2023.

Today, South East Water has finalised a £30.5 million redress package, which will be wholly funded by SEW’s shareholders, agreed in close collaboration with Ofwat. This legally binding commitment will replace an initially proposed £22 million fine, ensuring that all funds are invested directly into local network resilience and community redress.

Our sincere apologies

We are incredibly sorry that water supplies have been affected for some of our customers across Kent and Sussex, sometimes on multiple occasions. This is not the level of service we aim to provide, nor is it the service that our customers deserve. We understand how difficult these disruptions have been personally for families, local businesses, and the wider community.

We accept Ofwat's findings regarding these past supply failures.

Direct redress for impacted communities

Creating direct redress for impacted customers is at the very heart of this outcome. The £30.5 million redress package is strictly focused on making visible, rapid improvements for the customers who suffered the most. Through the package, the company’s shareholders will fund:

£13m to undertake further investment following an independent root and branch review of the company’s resilience.

£5m to speed up the smart metering programme for businesses.

£5m to help households to collect rainwater and reduce demand on the mains supply through the provision of free water butts.

£5m to install on-site storage tanks and smart meters in high-usage businesses to help manage the network better at peak times.

£1m to make sure critical settings don't run out of water if there is a future outage.

£1.5m to create a community relief fund to give back to communities that suffered the worst water supply failures.

Our Commitment Moving Forward

We are entirely focused on learning from these past challenges. This package directly aligns with our upcoming Price Review 24 (PR24) Business Plan, which represents our largest-ever investment programme. Moving forward, our absolute priority is investing heavily in transforming our business, creating sustainable water resources, improving network resilience, and increasing our drinking water storage capacity.

We recognise that rebuilding your trust requires visible action and long-term network reliability. We remain fully committed to delivering the resilient public water supply that you and your constituents expect and deserve.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out. Details of the individual schemes will be shared with you in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Lisa Clement,

Interim Chair,

South East Water.



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Community SMB

07/07/2026

Police Forces Merger Consultation
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott, is asking local residents to share their views regarding the Government’s proposals to merge police forces across England and Wales.

In January, the Government confirmed its intention to merge police forces, which will see the existing 43 forces combined into larger, regional forces.

An Independent Review is being carried out to advise the Government on how to take the force merger plans forward. However, the review is not asking for the views of members of the public - meaning that it is unclear how much popular support there is for these changes.
The PCC has launched this consultation to give you the opportunity to have your say.
Your opinion will help to inform the Independent Review of police mergers.

For further information about the proposals, you can read the Government’s white paper ‘From local to national: a new model for policing’ -

This white paper sets out comprehensive reforms to policing in England and Wales to enable policing to better deliver for the public.

07/07/2026

06/07/2026

Road Maintenance in Your Area Carriageway Patching Alders Road, Capel
When we plan to carry out the work and how long it will take This is to inform you that as part of the on-going maintenance and improvement of the highway network, Kent County Council will be carrying out patching repair work to the carriageway of Alders Road, Capel between junctions with Five Oak Green Road to Church Lane.
These road surface improvement works are programmed to start on the 29/07/2026 and should take 2 days to complete. These activities will be undertaken during a working window between the hours of 07:00 and 19:00.
This type of work can be affected by bad weather, so if it is not possible for us to carry it out at this time, we will arrange a new date and let you know via a letter drop to your home. We will also put up signs along the road, before we start, showing the date we plan to start work.
During these essential works it will be necessary to close the road completely so that we can carry out the works safely for both the workforce and road users. During this closure, a signed diversion route will be in place during the closure via B2017 Five Oak Green Road, Badsell Road, Badsell Road roundabout, A228 Colts Hill and Alders Road and Vice Versa What we plan to do Safety critical road defects will be repaired via saw cutting and removing the damaged road surface, and then reinstating in tarmac. Reinstatements will then be laid to profile and compacted to the level of the existing road surface. How you can help It is inevitable that residents and businesses near the works will experience some disruption, but we will try to keep these to a minimum. Any pavements will remain open at all times, but vehicle access to properties will need to be restricted for a short period while work is carried out in front of each property. If you have any particular access needs, please let the workforce on site know. We need your help to make sure the work is done as quickly as possible and to the best possible quality.
If your vehicle is usually parked on the carriageway, please make sure you park it somewhere else away from the site whilst the works are carried out, so the road is clear for us to complete these works activities.
How to contact us If you need more information, you can visit our website www.kent.gov.uk/resurfacingupdates to view our programme & updates, to find out how we look after the roads throughout Kent or report any faults you find on our roads. You can also view our diversion/permit details at www.one.network. Alternatively, you can call us on 03000 41 81 81. For your safety and the safety of our workforce, please drive carefully and slowly through the roadworks.

Find out our plans for resurfacing for the current financial year and how we prioritise roads.