Sittingbourne residents can raise local concerns directly with a neighbourhood beat officer at a new monthly police surgery starting in Milton Creek Country Park on 18 August 2026. PC 13369 Jez Chittim, who covers wards across the Swale area, will host the sessions at the recently opened Space@MiltonCreek community hub on
The surgery is open to everyone without the need to book, giving residents a regular chance to hear how Kent Police is tackling neighbourhood issues. PC Chittim, whose patch includes Hartlip, Newington, Upchurch, Bobbing, Iwade, Lower Halstow and Kemsley, said the sessions would allow people to find out what he is doing to address matters that affect them. After the August launch, the next surgeries fall on 15 September, 13 October, 10 November and 8 December 2026.
The Space hub, a 16ft by 40ft community and education building, officially opened on 23 May 2026 with a visit from local TV celebrity Steve Brown. The facility sits within Sittingbourne’s largest green space, a 128‑acre former landfill site on the west bank of Milton Creek that the Milton Creek Country Park Trust manages as a registered charity. The volunteers group Friends of Milton Creek led the project, raising around £30,000 to complete the building to current regulations, which secured an A‑grade energy rating after final tests in January 2026.
The park itself has earned repeated recognition for its environmental transformation, including nine consecutive Gold awards from South & South East In Bloom and two Green Flag Awards. This surgery marks the first regular public service to operate from the new hub.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
