Lower Halstow

10°CSunny

• Today: 10° / 7° · 12% rain
• Tomorrow: 10° / 6° · Sunny

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:55Sunset 16:25

9h 30m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

28US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Rochester Stoke, United Kingdom

• 7.1 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.3% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

6 reported · August 2026▼ 62% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences3
• Other theft2
• Vehicle crime1

Neighbourhood team: Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow · Kent

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

277 reported road collisions (2025)

76 killed or seriously injured · 379 casualties · 18.3 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

33 food businesses within 2 miles

• 31 rated 4–5 ★ (23 top)
• 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Newington (2.1 km)
• 3 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£296,578 average▲ 0.6% YoY

Across Swale · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,114 average monthly rent▲ 0.8% YoY

• 1 bed £779
• 2 bed £1,029
• 3 bed £1,244

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

8.8× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 8.8 times median annual pay (9.4× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

2,057 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Cheapest petrol: 157.9p · Esso (7.6 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 191.9p · Esso (7.6 km)

10 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

29 charging locations within ~8 km

• 9 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 350 kW
• Nearest: Medway-Hyundai (3.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools1
• Sports pitches5
• Playgrounds1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

151,677 residents in Swale · 406/km²

• Under 16: 20%
• 16–64: 61%
• 65+: 19%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK8,640
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK6,950
• Net moves+1,690

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Among the most deprived areas in England

Ranked 59 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

14% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,406 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (27% of 67,440)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

71 schools · 24,238 pupils

49 primary · 9 secondary · 13 other

Ofsted: 18 of 23 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (78%)

61 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Swale

1,676 CQC-registered services

• Care homes503
• GP practices222
• Dentists360
• Homecare agencies415
• Hospitals & hospices47

CQC ratings: 87% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 20 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Kent

• Not in the Green Belt
• 11 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

155 applications decided

89% granted · 138 granted, 17 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Kevin McKenna

Labour

Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Source: UK Parliament

Labour (minority)

• Lab 15
• Con 10
• LD 5
• Grn 2
• Ref 4
• Oth 11

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools2
• Parks & greens13
• Restaurants & cafés2

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

6,185 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

1 jobs advertised · £50,000 avg

e.g. Design Manager – Architectural Metalwork

Source: Adzuna

£761 median full-time weekly pay

3.5% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£24,338 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

46% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 68,235 certificates

11.3% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

66% low-carbon electricity

Wind 51% · Gas 33% · Nuclear 9% · Biomass 6%

138 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for South East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 82.8 yrs women · 79.9 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Kent): 63.9 women · 62.5 men

71% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.4
• Feeling worthwhile7.7
• Happiness yesterday7.8
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)2.8

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

0 GP surgeries · 3 pharmacies in ME9

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Sittingbourne and Sheppey:

• Mandatory suicide risk assessment for adolescents in hospital who express intent2,678 local signatures · 18,972 nationwide
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth313 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases311 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND256 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Make catapult attacks against animals a standalone criminal offence184 local signatures · 55,084 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• 
  Lower Halstow · 0.1 km

  Lower Halstow is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is northwest of Sittingbourne on the banks of the Medway Estuary. It lies north of Newington on the A2 Roman road.

• 
  Upchurch · 1.4 km

  Upchurch is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. It is situated about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the A2 road, between Rainham and Sittingbourne.

• 
  Newington railway station · 2.1 km

  Newington railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the village of Newington, Kent. It is 41 miles 44 chains (66.9 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Rainham and Sitti…

• 
  Funton · 2.2 km

  Funton is a location in Kent, United Kingdom. It is a creek situated on the edge of the North Kent Marshes on the right bank of the River Medway about halfway between the towns Chatham and Sheerness.

• 
  Watling Temple · 2.3 km

  Watling Temple is the name given to the remains of a temple within a Roman town next to the modern A2 road in Newington, near Sittingbourne in Kent, England.

• 
  Newington, Swale · 2.3 km

  Newington is a village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. The parish is located beside the A2 road between Rainham to the west and Sittingbourne to the east. The population of the parish in 201…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)