Podcast: Flats without parking planned for Sittingbourne, Ebbsfleet stadium project rejected and plans to close planning loophole in Maidstone

We're starting today's episode with development news as there are plans to build 115 flats in Sittingbourne - without a single car parking space. An application's been submitted for land off Fountain Street, near the town's railway station. Elsewhere, plans to build a new football stadium and 3,500 homes in north Kent have been rejected. The £40 million development was put forward by Ebbsfleet United. And, bosses in Maidstone are going to try and stop developers from being able to convert office blocks into flats. It's after a prohibition notice was issued and residents forced to move out of Miller Heights in the town when a flood in the basement affected the electrics. Also in today's podcast, business leaders in Kent are calling for local government reorganisation to be delivered without delay, to limit the impact on the economy. Our current 14 councils are going to be scrapped and replaced with four bigger unitary authorities. The deadline is 2028 - but it's feared the process could be held up as some are unhappy with the boundary choice. Ahead of the new football season, a grassroots club in Kent has praised the work of it's volunteers to keep it running. It's thought around 1 in 5 children in Faversham has a connection to Faversham Strike Force. They've recently been highly commended in the club of the year category at the Kent FA awards and are looking to expand. And finally, the new Next at Bluewater has officially opened. The store has moved into the vacant House of Fraser which closed at the end of 2024. It's the chain's biggest shop in the UK and includes an in-store Costa coffee. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.