How Credible is the Council’s Bold Vision for the City? by Hubert Pragnell
Some weeks ago the leader of Canterbury Council issued his bold vision for making Canterbury more attractive by boosting its historical and cultural assets. Few would have any issue with this, but rather how it is to be done. First, he claimed Canterbury was in some...
Philanthropy lives, ok! by Stewart Ross
Skating through my social media pages this week, I came across a contributor slating today’s super rich for not emulating their public-spirited Victorian antecedents. Instead of frittering their fortunes on yachts and Caribbean islands, the writer suggested, they...
Towards a Greener Canterbury
by Beverley Paton, Chair of the ‘Green and Biodiversity’ Working Group and Deputy Chair of the Canterbury Society There are initiatives in the city that are making Canterbury a greener and more enjoyable place to live. Through partnership between volunteers, the...
Heritage and History, by Stewart Ross
About time too. On Thursday 27 May Canterbury City Council announced an ambitious – and expensive – plan to transform the city into a world-class tourist destination. In April, I lamented the shabby and half-hearted manner in which we present our very special city,...
Canterbury Elections May 2021, by Neasa MacErlean
What do the local election results in Canterbury mean? With a 17 per cent shift to Labour in the county votes in the city centre, they buck the main trend in England — of seven per cent gains by the Conservatives. Local Conservatives would prefer to see them as a...
The Urgent Need for a New Hospital in Canterbury, by Martin Vye
At last there is a glimmer of light at the end of the COVID tunnel. The NHS—after a year of heroic effort to combat the pandemic –now will be looking to what has to be done to meet the needs of the future. Here, in East Kent, there is no question that there has...
A Heritage Walk, by Stewart Ross
Last Tuesday I became a tourist. I didn’t pack bags and fly off in defiance of Covid regulations, but paid a visit to my own city, Canterbury, as a putative outsider. I wanted to find out what the place looked and felt like to someone arriving for the first time. I...
“Local Democracy – Why Participate”: Richard Norman, Organiser, Canterbury Forum Working Group
by Richard Norman, Organiser, Canterbury Forum Working Group Most readers of Canterbury News will know that last year Canterbury City Council decided to abolish its Area Forums. Local people therefore decided to take things into their own hands and run the Forums...
Reaching Carbon Net Zero – Cllr Dan Watkins
Dan Watkins is the Canterbury City Councillor with the main Climate Change brief. Now that the Council has approved his ‘Climate Action Plan’, what will it mean in practice? Why does it tackle just 2% of our emissions? Will it actually happen? Neasa MacErlean talks to...
Paul Bennet
One person has done more than anyone else in the last four decades to discover and preserve the archaeology of Canterbury and the nearby area. Paul Bennett retired as Director of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust in late September 2020 — having presided over a...