Lower Halstow

16°CPatchy rain nearby

• Today: 23° / 14° · 27% rain
• Tomorrow: 24° / 14° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:24Sunset 19:23

12h 59m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

26US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: ozone

Source: WAQI · Rochester Stoke, United Kingdom

6 reported · July 2026▼ 77% YoY

• Criminal damage & arson3
• Violence & sexual offences2
• Anti-social behaviour1

Neighbourhood team: Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow · Kent

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

274 reported road collisions (2024)

85 killed or seriously injured · 368 casualties · 18.1 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

£298,394 average▲ 4.5% YoY

Across Swale · to 2026-06

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,103 average monthly rent▲ 0.9% YoY

• 1 bed £771
• 2 bed £1,019
• 3 bed £1,231

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

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

• Cheapest petrol: 157.9p · Esso (7.6 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 187.7p · Asda (5.6 km)

17 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)

More deprived than the average in England

Ranked 69 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

19% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

£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%)

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

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Swale

1,672 CQC-registered services

• Care homes501
• GP practices221
• Dentists362
• Homecare agencies415
• Hospitals & hospices47

CQC ratings: 87% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 25 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Kent

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

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

154 applications decided

88.3% granted · 136 granted, 18 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

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)

6,045 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

£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

57% low-carbon electricity

Gas 42% · Wind 41% · Nuclear 8% · Biomass 7%

174 gCO₂/kWh · high intensity

Latest estimate for South East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 82.8 yrs women · 79.9 yrs 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

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Sittingbourne and Sheppey:

• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test464 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
• Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office421 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
• Do not ban social media for under 16s407 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership379 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth313 local signatures · 112,809 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

• 
  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)