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Community action/Swale

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The Hop Festival at Faversham, 31 August 2014. Author: Elliott Simpson
Location data
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Location Swale, Kent, England
Coordinates 51° 20' 12.28" N, 0° 48' 4.93" E

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Swale.

Swale
Kent
UK
Europe
Earth
  • News Community groups call for locally-owned solar farms in Kent, BBC News (Jul 23, 2025)
  • News New stretch of national coast path opens on island, BBC News (Jun 24, 2025)
  • News Volunteers turn old rail track into walking route, BBC News (Jan 25, 2025)
  • News Hedgerows the 'unsung heroes of the countryside', BBC News (Feb 16, 2026) — A group of Kent volunteers is aiming to provide vital habitat for wildlife by planting about 3,800 yards (3,500m) of hedgerows in the countryside this year.
  • News ‘To live a normal life again, it’s a dream come true’: UK’s first climate evacuees can cast off their homes and trauma, theguardian.com (Feb 09, 2026)
  • News Behind the scenes as GPs face 'tidal wave of demand', BBC News (Jan 22, 2026)
  • News Record-breaking heat and dry spring leave parts of England without water, reuters.com (May 29, 2026)
  • News The English restaurant turning hospitality on its head, positive.news (May 27, 2026) — At a pay-as-you-can restaurant in Stroud, radical hospitality and good food are bringing strangers together
  • News Britain’s green transition should belong to everyone. Why is Labour so intent on stopping us having our say? George Monbiot, theguardian.com (May 27, 2026)
  • News Amsterdam, along with other major European cities, bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels [BBC], Daily Alternative (May 22, 2026)
  • News How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe, theconversation.com (May 15, 2026)
  • News Rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in Europe’s first sanctuary, theguardian.com (May 07, 2026)
  • News Amsterdam, along with other major European cities, bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels [BBC], Daily Alternative (May 22, 2026)
  • News Solidarity fields in Syria: Reviving local seed production, globalvoices.org (May 21, 2026) — A community garden on Damascus's edge is quietly rebuilding Syria's agricultural memory
  • News How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe, theconversation.com (May 15, 2026)

Video

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Isle of Sheppey - Elmley Nature Reserve - UK Wildlife - Birds & Bugs
Authors: Ian Phillips, Jul 11, 2018

Networks and sustainability initiatives

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Communities online

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Brogdale Farm is home to the National Fruit Collection, one of the largest collections of fruit trees and plants in the world. Spread over 150-acre (61 ha) it hosts the collection since it moved from Wisley in 1952. In the 1980s, the Government cut funding to the site, with closure threatened by March 1990. In response, the Brogdale Horticultural Trust took over co-ownership of the farm with Wye College. It has been the home of Faversham miniature railway since 2001.

The farm runs regular fruit-themed festivals throughout the summer and autumn:

  • the Cherry Festival in July
  • the Cider Festival in August
  • the Apple Festival in October.

During the fairs, visitors can explore the orchards and several experts give talks on the produce.

Community resources

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Climate action

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Sustainable transport

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Maps

Cycling

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National Cycle Route 1 passes through Faversham, en route from Whitstable to Sittingbourne. W

Biodiversity

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Environment quality

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  • Plastic Free Faversham, community group run by volunteers with the aim of raising awareness about the overuse of single-use plastic and other ecological issues.

Wetlands

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The North Kent Marshes have been recognised as one of the most important natural wetlands in northern Europe, and they are monitored by local landowners and wildlife custodians. According to the RSPB, up to 300,000 migrant birds use the mudflats of the Thames marshes as a haven each year in their migratory journeys between the Arctic and Africa. The marshes serve as emergency natural flood protection for London. W

Oare Marshes is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, National Nature Reserve, Ramsar internationally important wetland site, Special Protection Area under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and Site of Special Scientific Interest.

South Swale is a 410.5-hectare (1,014-acre) Local Nature Reserve (as South Bank of the Swale) north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned by Kent County Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest

The Saxon Shore Way public footpath follows the top of the sea wall for the entire length of the reserve, around the village of Graveney, for about 3 miles in total.

Coasts

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Medway Swale Estuary Partnership

About Swale

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Campaigns

  • Scheme for thousands of new houses near Sittingbourne would have devastating impact on countryside (and it's not even in the Local Plan), cprekent.org.uk, added 15:45, 24 September 2021 (UTC)

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. The council is based in Sittingbourne, the borough's largest town. The borough also contains the towns of Faversham, Queenborough and Sheerness, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It includes the Isle of Sheppey and is named after The Swale, the narrow channel which separates Sheppey from the mainland part of the borough. Some southern parts of the borough lie within the Kent Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The borough borders the Medway unitary authority area to the west, the Borough of Maidstone to the south-west, the Borough of Ashford to the south-east, and the City of Canterbury to the east. Under proposed reorganisation in either April 2027 or 2028 the borough will face abolition and will join with one or more adjoining councils to form a new Unitary Authority. Details of such proposals are expected in Autumn 2025.

Near you

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Ashford - Canterbury - Maidstone - Medway

See also

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Page data
Keywords Sustainable community action
SDG SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 1 pages link here
Redirects Swale community action
Views 22 page views (analytics)
Created January 30, 2022 by Phil Green
Last edit December 16, 2025 by Felipe Schenone
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