Christmas is coming, and there's something for all the family in White Cliffs Country this festive season.

Christmas lights are already shining out, with a range of events lighting up the district.  And there's a whole host of seasonal highlights still to come in our communities, including the Winter Lantern Festival in Dover on Saturday, (6 Dec).

DDC announced free parking from 3pm in DDC car parks for Christmas lights event days in Deal, Sandwich, and Dover. We've also confirmed seasonal waste collections.

• More on Christmas arrangements

Exciting progress continues to be made on the development of The Bench, as part of the transformational Dover Beacon project.  

Representatives from DDC and a range of partners joined together this autumn to mark the pivotal 'topping out' stage of the development, signifying the completion of the highest point of the new Bench building.

Final stages of construction are set to be completed in spring 2026, when the building is to be handed to tenants for fitting out.

• More on Dover Beacon

DDC has confirmed that it is to appoint Sports and Leisure Management Ltd, part of which is Everyone Active, to manage the operation of the new multi million pound Deal Leisure Centre.  

This follows news in October that DDC’s Cabinet gave the final go ahead for the £20m leisure centre to be built, meaning it was all systems go for the new facility.    

Everyone Active will take on the management of the new Deal Leisure Centre and are set to begin long term operations for the indoor tennis centre and sports hall facilities from 1 April 2026, with full opening of the new centre in summer 2027.   

• More on Deal Leisure Centre

DDC has been welcoming families into brand new council homes at Sandwich Road in Sholden.

Twenty-three new affordable homes have been acquired by DDC at Sholden Meadows. These include a mix of two, three and four bedroom properties, as well as homes for shared ownership, with 15 made available for affordable rent and eight for shared ownership.  

These homes are adding to DDC’s growing number of council houses. The council continues to explore new opportunities to provide more council homes. 

• More on affordable housing

Works on replacing the pedestrian timber footbridge from Knightrider Street to St George’s Lees in Sandwich have started.

Works began last week, and the bridge is being removed with new foundations put in by the Christmas break.

A new bridge is set to be built in the new year.

• More on council services

A free event is coming to Dover Maison Dieu in the new year with the chance to meet over 30 local groups and try a whole range of skills and activities.

The ‘New Year, New Hobby’ event on Saturday 17 Jan, will be inviting residents to come along to meet local groups, clubs and organisations, find out about volunteering opportunities, and have a go at a whole host of hobbies.

There will be free percussion 'jam' sessions with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and a range of performances and activities with local groups. The event is being facilitated by DDC and supported by the Arts Council England.

• More on New Year, New Hobby

An immersive exhibition At The End of History explores stories of disabled people from Dover’s past, and is available to visit at Dover Museum until 26 January 2026.

The exhibition has been created as part of the ‘Curating Visibility’ project and features an innovatively designed Virtual Reality (VR) headset piece that includes accessibility for visually impaired users. 

The gallery space, and pieces within, have all been carefully designed to incorporate accessibility features in a natural way – creating an experience that is enhanced for everyone. 

• At The End of History exhibition

Proposals for the preferred number of new councils needed for Kent and Medway, and the geographical areas they should cover, were submitted to government on Friday.

This follows news that DDC gave its unanimous backing to a four-unitary council option for Kent and Medway on 19 November.

In the biggest shake up of local government in 50 years, ministers asked councils to come up with plans to create unitary councils. Ministers are now expected to analyse the proposals and launch a public consultation early in the new year.

• Local Government Reorganisation