Sittingbourne and Sheppey heard in the Houses of Parliament

23rd December 2011
Sittingbourne and Sheppey heard in the Houses of Parliament

Key issues for Sittingbourne and Sheppey residents are being heard by Members of Parliament and Ministers, the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons has told MPs and our local MP Gordon Henderson. Mr David Heath MP said,

“From his contributions to these debates, I feel that I know an awful lot more about Sittingbourne and Sheppey than I did a year or two ago.”

Mr Heath’s comments were in response to Mr Henderson’s contribution to an end of 2011 debate in the House of Commons in which he brought more Sittingbourne and Sheppey matters to the attention of MPs and Government.

Mr Henderson said,

“When I was elected as MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey in May 2010, one of my goals was to raise the profile of Sittingbourne and Sheppey with other MPs and Government Ministers, therefore, I’m delighted that the constituency is being recognised and its issues being heard – I must be doing something right.”

In his speech Mr Henderson called on the Government to address the void in justice left by the closure of Sittingbourne Magistrates this year, lamented the potential closure of Queenborough Fire Station and Sheerness County Youth Centre and drew attention to the need for our local road infrastructure to be upgraded.

He went on to talk about the regeneration of Sittingbourne town centre by Tescos and plans for new Morrisons supermarkets in Sittingbourne and Sheppey, which he welcomed because they will bring jobs for the almost 3,000 people in the area who are unemployed.

Our local schools were also praised and Mr Henderson asked the Government to prioritise them for money to upgrade buildings to ensure our schools maintain their high standards.

Mr Henderson also used his speech to pay tribute to Brenda Simpson, Swale Borough Councillor for Kemsley, who sadly passed away on Thursday 15th December. Mr Henderson was keen to praise Brenda as a perfect ward councillor who, despite being a staunch Conservative, always put the interests of her Kemsley community before party politics. He went on to add that she was honest, hard-working and a thoroughly nice person, and she will be missed by friend and political foe alike.

Finally, our MP congratulated the KM Group for stepping into produce the Sittingbourne News Extra that will provide the vital news to Sittingbourne residents following the sad closure of the East Kent Gazette in December.

CLICK HERE! to read the speech in full.