The Labour candidate in the by-election for the vacant seat on Southborough Town Council has said he regrets the Conservative Party’s decision to put up a by-election candidate who doesn’t live in the Town Council area.

In a statement on Saturday to Southborough News, Labour’s Alain Lewis (pictured below) said: ” I genuinely believe that town councillors should live and pay taxes in the town they represent.”  Mr Lewis also criticised the Conservative’s Southborough Hub development scheme.

The by-election takes place on Thursday 7th September in a seat left vacant by the unexpected resignation of the Conservative, Glenn Lester, (below) who had been one of the key supporters of the Southborough Hub scheme, which is due to offer a new library, medical centre and community hall – all funded by housing development on the Ridgewaye playing fields.  The Hub replaces the now demolished Royal Victoria Hall Theatre.

The election leaflet for the Conservative candidate, Judith Symes, referred to a “big investment” underway to build the community Hub.  It continued: “This brings with it new opportunities for Southborough and High Brooms.”

The Conservative majority on the Town Council is not at risk, but the vote will inevitably be seen as a test of how well the people of Southborough and High Brooms think the Hub plans have been managed by the Conservative Party.

Three candidates are standing. They are:
Allen LEAR of the Liberal Democrats of 8 Ruscombe Close, Southborough TN4 0SG
Alain LEWIS of the Labour Party of 25 Holden Park Road, Southborough TN4 0ER
Judith SYMES of the Conservatives who lives at 94 Upper Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2EU

Southborough News asked all 3 candidates for statements by Saturday lunchtime but only Labour had responded by the deadline with a statement.

Mr Lewis’s statement continues:
“I have lived in Southborough with my wife for over 12 years and during this time have shown my commitment to the area by serving as a town and borough councillor. I have fought to preserve our heritage and green spaces and to develop our town centre by involving local residents who will be using and paying for its facilities.”

Mr Lewis also discussed the Hub:
” I have opposed the way that the Hub has been developed by a small group of Conservative councillors acting in secret, refusing to reveal the financial details of the project, and happy to use a part of Ridgewaye fields for building flats. If elected, together with my Labour colleagues, I will work for a council that is open in the way it deals with the public and that ensures our town remains a place that future generations will love to live in.”

The current mix of councillors in the Southborough and High Brooms Town Council area is Conservative 11, Labour 5, Liberal Democrat 1, Vacant 1.

Judith Symes election leaflet also states: “I am an experienced politician.  I have a background in senior management, with many years working across sectors, with people from all “walks of life””.

There was some comment in the past week on the Southborough Forum Facebook page about the fact that the Conservative candidate lived just outside High Brooms.  The Chairman of the Southborough Society, Michael Howes, said he had been asked to stand by the Conservatives but declined.

When asked why he declined to stand, Mr Howes stated on Facebook: “Too busy and why should I give my time to be shot down by outspoken idiots?”

Two new managers have just taken charge of the area’s buses and they are promising to listen to what passengers are saying and make sure services are as reliable as possible.

The new Area Managing Director for Arriva in Kent and Surrey, Oliver Monahan (below) told Southborough News: “We want to reset the relationship with customers and engage with people. We want to be embedded in the community and grow the market. We have been too remote and we want to change that.”

Mr Monahan promised to look again at timings of some services in Southborough, which have been criticised by users for their poor frequency at peak times.  Arriva says reliability was improved after a major review was completed in April and Mr Monahan says the emphasis now is: “to drive performance and look to become a part of the communities that we serve”. Mr Monahan has just arrived from Transport For London.

Meanwhile, Adrian Tullett (below) is also just settling into his new role as the Area General Manager for Tunbridge Wells. Mr Tullett previously drove buses in the area in the late 1980s, went onto manage services around southern England, did a stint in Singapore before most recently managing buses in Brighton.

Having been shown the evidence of the scarcity of buses in Southborough at peak times, Mr Tullett says they are now actively looking for solutions. Mr Tullett says he has asked the timetable experts in Arriva’s commercial department “to thrash out some ideas and options to improve the corridor.”

There may be a rethink when the opening of the dualled A21 later this year reduces some journey times and creates more capacity. Another major development will be when the ageing bus depot in St John’s (shown below) closes in the next few months.

As clearly advertised outside, it will be demolished and replaced by housing.

Mr Monahan says Arriva are “investing heavily” in the area. It plans to build a brand new bus depot in North Farm industrial estate.

Mr Monahan questioned a recent decision to remove a section of the bus lane next to Southborough cricket ground to create a short cycle lane.  He thinks removing bus lanes will “create more congestion and drive that viscous circle of slower buses, fewer customers and higher fares.”

Mr Monahan points out that bus operators like Arriva are not allowed by law to run routes at a loss, so lower revenues often have to be dealt with by higher fares, which then creates this viscous circle of reduced passenger numbers and yet higher fares.

Bus travel overall is on the decline in Britain, which has angered many campaigners as most experts say bus travel should actually be increasing as it leads to reduced congestion and pollution, amid the widely accepted need to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions from cars. A double decker bus can take up to 76 vehicles off the road.

Mr Monahan said: “Arriva’s fleet uses very clean diesel engines and we now have a UK wide policy of only buying the latest Euro 6 engines which are actually cleaner than most hybrids in the level of NOx particles they generate. “

High fares and the move to online shopping have been blamed for falling passenger use. Even older passengers seem to be ordering more online and so apparently feel the need to go to the shops less often.

Mr Monahan says he wants to recast the industry with experimental new innovations such as ArrivaClick which was launched this year in Sittingbourne.  Passengers can call wi-fi enabled mini-buses when they need them using their phones.  ArrivaClick fares are  much lower than the cost of taxis.

Mr Monahan said: “I am actively looking to launch ArrivaClick into those semi-urban areas which do not warrant a huge (but so often empty) bus but which instead can operate on demand – people want to travel when they want to and not when not when I decide for them a few months or even years before in a bus they don’t even want most of the time! This is demand responsive travel and is set to revolutionise bus travel in those areas where this model works – the iPhone of buses!”

Since a new timetable started last April, Arriva says that reliability has been improved. But on some services on days with low to average congestion, passengers are finding their buses are sitting at bus stops for many minutes waiting for the journey to slow down to the timetable.

Southborough News has highlighted three major problems with the current services:
(1) Long waits for the peak weekday morning service northwards from Southborough to Tonbridge. This is now:
0605, 0631, 0645, 0650
0714, 0725, 0731, 0739h, 0753
  0810, 0835,  0905

This suggests long scheduled gaps of:
25 mins from 0650 to 0714,
22 mins from 0731 to 0753 (if Hugh Christie school bus not running),
23 mins from 0753 to 0810
25 mins from 0810 to 0835
30 mins from 0835 to 0905

(2) Long waits for the peak weekday morning service southwards from Southborough to Tunbridge Wells. This is now:
0600, 0615, 0630, 0645
0700, 0724, 0740, 0754b
0805b, 0808b, 0815, 0844, 0907

This suggests long scheduled gaps of:
24 mins from 0700 to 0724
35 mins on non-school days from 0740 to 0815
29 mins from 0815 to 0844
23 mins from 0844 to 0907

(3) After 8pm, the evening service from Tonbridge station returning to Southborough  leaves long gaps for commuters. Some services are poorly spaced. This is the service from Tonbridge Quarry Hill to Southborough from Monday.
1702, 1724, 1727, 1744, 1758,
1803, 1812, 1821, 1839, 1857,
1902, 1918, 1929, 1938, 1956, 1959
2029, 2059
2159
2259

(BOLD is 7 to and from Maidstone, Regular type is 402 Dunton Green service
h – Hugh Christie bus only runs during school days
b – Bennett Memorial and other services to TW on school days only)

Some 402 services ended last Friday when the hourly Arriva buses heading for Bromley were discontinued.  Another operator is starting a partial replacement starting at Sevenoaks and operating 4 times a day.

Last year’s deputy chairman of Southborough Town Council, Glenn Lester, has resigned from the council.

A by-election in High Brooms will be held to fill Cllr Lester’s seat.

Glenn Lester told Southborough News:

“I have been struggling with work and council commitments for the past 2 years and now the hub is on track and all the ducks are in a row I have taken the opportunity to step back.

I also became tired of all the party politics of STC , there seems to be a desire to put party before community and I never volunteered to fight, I volunteered to improve our little Town.

That said I do believe the 17 other councillors all do have Southborough best interests at heart.

I will look forward to the Hub from the eyes of a resident instead of a councillor and wish STC the very best of luck bring forward a fantastic asset for us all.”

Kent County Council says there will be a further chance for residents to have their say on the look of the Southborough Hub.  It says it will consult on: “the various conditions within the planning application, including the cladding for the building”.

Meanwhile, a statement on Friday from Jonathan White of KCC said: “Demolition which is currently under way on the Hub site has been delayed due to issues with utility providers being unwilling to disconnect services in a timely manner. Onsite demolition should be complete in the next couple of weeks”.

Later this month, the preferred housing developer, Crest Nicholson, will be seeking residents’ views on its detailed designs for the 69 new apartments to be built on part of the playing fields.  (The area outlined in red above).

The exhibition will be at Southborough Library, from 3-8pm on Tuesday, 27 June. Crest Nicholson says the design proposals include:
* Development capped at 3 storeys, as opposed to a maximum of 5 storeys permitted under the Outline permission
*Significantly more parking than the Outline scheme
* Higher quality, more functional public space

The other points from Friday’s KCC statement are:

“The Tesco site and the rear of the Lloyds bank land has been purchased by KCC. The Lloyds building has been purchased by JVIP ltd who previously refurbished the old Flying Dutchman Pub across the road.

The residential development has been on the market and a purchaser has been selected. Negotiations are now underway and due diligence is being done prior to finalising the sale.

Work is progressing on the detailed designs of the Hub that will allow the project to go out to tender for the construction of the facility. The project has engaged a theatre consultant to advise on specialist elements.

The Assembly Hall Theatre team at Tunbridge Wells Council are keen to take on the running of the new hall/theatre for a trial period of two years, working with Southborough Town Council to assess demand and long term sustainability. This will be the subject of a report to Cabinet at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in September, when a final decision will be made.

Working with the football club, the project continues to seek to secure FA Grant funding for the pavilion. A bid for up to £500k is expected in July subject to confirmation from the FA foundation on timelines.

The GP surgery is progressing however the NHS are seeking to include a number of additional services into the facility which could impact on timelines and are subject to further discussions.

Work is progressing with potential developers and landowners to determine whether adjacent facilities in need of improvements can be done in tandem with the project coming forward.

The project will seek to enter into agreements for lease with the shop, café, football pavilion, community/theatre element and GP surgery before the contract to build the facility is signed. The project has received numerous approaches on many of these elements and will be dealing with them in due course.

The draft S106 agreement is ready to be signed so that the planning can be validated. It cannot currently be signed as the land it binds is still owned by TWBC and the borough cannot enter into a contract with itself. KCC will need to call the TWBC land once demolition of their buildings has been completed, the S106 can then be signed and the planning is validated.”

 

 

 

The KCC person in charge of the project can be contacted at:
jonathan.white@kent.gov.uk

New housing development threatens Southborough’s most beautiful views into Sussex  and residents only have until 5pm on Monday 12th June to register their objections as part of a Borough Council consultation on new developments.

Residents who use the picturesque footpath from Birchwood Avenue into Birch Wood have discovered a map which appears to suggest Camp Field is allocated for new housing. Camp Field apparently takes its name because it was where King Harold camped on his way to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Arthur Hull (above) who has lived in nearby Hardinge Way for 25 years told Southborough News: “It would be a complete tragedy to take this field when there are so many brownfield sites to build on.”

Mr Hull said: “It is too ludicrous for words to build homes here.  It is a haven for wildlife. There are nightingales, skylarks, grass snakes, doormice and adders.”

Arthur Hull walks his dog along the path, which leads to the Bidborough’s popularly named “bomb crater” as well as the Birch Wood.  Mr Hull said: “It is a very crafty system.  If the consultation approves a strategy of developing this area, then the next phase of a planning application for the field would just be a rubber stamp.”

The field is currently owned by John Foster, who according to local people lives in Tonbridge.  The field is currently used for hay and for grazing sheep.  It is bordered by ancient woodland on two sides.

In the past few weeks, leaflets have been left for passing residents, alerting them to the threat. (see below)

The Tunbridge Wells Borough Council consultation can be found at this link:
http://bit.ly/2rTleWM

It is a lengthy document to wade through and begins by declaring: “The Issues and Options document sets out some questions and identifies a number of possible options for where and how the future growth of the borough might be located”.

Central government policy has now switched to prioritising  more house building and giving less weight to local planning objections. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has been told to prepare a strategy to build another 10,000 homes in the next 15 years. The Borough’s current population is around 120,000.

Camp Field is both on Green Belt land and within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. However, those allocations no longer guarantee the land can be protected from development as a large number of the potential building sites in the Borough also have this designation.

A leaflet being distributed states: “The Camp Field (site 45) has been put forward as a potential housing development site.  There is an important opportunity now, as part of the Local Plan Consultation, to oppose the inclusion of the site in the plan.”

It is suggested that objections are placed at Question 19 in the lengthy form. In addition the leaflet argues “under Section 5 Question 10, identify your preferred option – as a suggestion 4 and/or 5 would probably be best.” These are options for development along the A21 or in a new settlement of 5,000 homes.

Another local resident declared: “All of Tunbridge Wells is under threat. We found out by accident about this idea a month ago.  Extremely valuable views could be lost”.

The footpath (shown below) to the north of the field is used by hundreds of walkers every day.

The second local resident argued: “The only hope is that the council decide to prioritise for housing the areas near the newly improved A21 rather than develop areas that would add to traffic on the already overcrowded A26.”

Other concerned residents have questioned why Southborough Town Council decided not to draw up its own Neighbourhood Plan to link into the process – an option that was taken up by Paddock Wood in order to allow more debate among residents about priorities.

A massive reclamation effort by a Kent firm means the heritage of the tens of thousands of bricks from the demolished Royal Victoria Hall will live on in new buildings.

A team of workers from a family business run by Tony Caudwell has been carefully removing the mortar from the RVH’s Victorian bricks and placing them into stacks of 500 bricks. (See picture below showing site on Friday)

The brick stacks have all been securely wrapped in plastic, lifted by crane onto trucks and taken to Mr Caudwell’s massive reclamation yard in East Farleigh near Maidstone. They are now available for sale.

It’s thought there may be around 20,000 bricks from the RVH, valued at up to £ 1.50 each.  There are three types: red wire cut, multi stocks and the most valuable “facing reds” (shown below before demolition).

There is no sign so far of any interest in a bulk purchase for a specific project using solely the heritage bricks from the RVH. The bricks are thought to have been manufactured locally at the High Brooms brickworks around 120 years ago.

Tony Caudwell’s yard in East Farleigh has been operating for 45 years and now has around half a million reclaimed bricks and is shown below:

Mr Caudwell’s full contact details are:
Yew Tree Cottage, Heath Road, East Farleigh, Maidstone, Kent ME15 0LR
Telephone: 01622 746 225
Tony Caudwell mobile: 07802 412 191
Eddie Finch mobile: 07894 463 795

Email is:
sales@reclaimedbricksandyorkstone.co.uk

His website explains that reclaimed bricks: “are a popular option for many customers because they provide great character and a timeless, quality finish. However it can be more expensive because of sourcing and laying costs, so finding the right reclaimed building materials specialist is of paramount importance.”

Antonia Francis (below) was one of the stars of the 2017 Southborough Family Fun Day as she vividly discussed with curious onlookers her days on the road with her beautifully preserved Austin Seven Ruby Classic Car.

She explained how she had twice driven from Land’s End to John o’Groats in the car – a distance of 874 miles.  The Austin Seven is the same age as her, having been built in 1935.

Antonia also drove round Ireland in 1994, where her only problem was a puncture, which was mended by a Irishman who never stopped talking, clearly excited by having never mended a spoke wheel before. She said she often slept in the car on her tours, removing the passenger seat and putting in a plank of wood resting on the back seat and adding some foam and a sleeping bag.

The car has no indicators or hazard lights, which makes it somewhat unsuitable for motorways. But there is no car tax payable on classic cars and Antonia pays just £42 a year in insurance, fully comprehensive.

She says 1935 cars were built to withstand rust much better than later models in the 1960s and 1970s. Many other classic cars were also on display at the event. (see below)

The Fun Day, which is held every year on the Ridgewaye Field in aid of funds for the local Sea Cadets, was blessed with warm sunshine and hundreds of people attended. Southborough Town Council provide the use of the field and other facilities free of charge for the event.

Also on display was a Ferret armoured car (above), also called the Ferret scout car, which is a British reconnaissance vehicle produced between 1952 and 1971. It is currently used by the Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School Cadet Force.

There was also a selection of classic pumping engines (see above) with one cleverly linked to a tap gushing water that appeared to be suspended in midair without support.

Plus there was a marching band and other music which was heard throughout much of the Town.

The event was presided over by the Southborough mayor (below) Cllr David Elliot who scooted from one side of the field to the other on his electric bike.

It has emerged that Southborough Council has made no plan to salvage the distinctive plaster decorative features next to the stage of the Royal Victoria Hall.

The picture and the film below shows the state of demolition up to Sunday afternoon 14th May 2017.  It is understood that saving the plaster decorative features would require a tower to be set up next to the stage and that would be too costly and time consuming.

The demolition is being conducted by grabbing sections of the brickwork by machine and dropping them on a “soft area”. This is causing the bricks to be separated from the lime mortar, so allowing some of the red bricks to be reclaimed.

Having already trimmed services at peak times last month, the Arriva Bus Company has just announced that its services that directly link Southborough with Bromley will end in July, unless it can get further Kent County Council funding.

Arriva is owned by Deutsche Bahn, which is the massive nationalised rail operator for all of Germany.

The route news was combined with new fare rises.  The all day bus travel ticket popular in Southborough will rise by 8 per cent from £ 4.80  a day to £ 5.20 a day.

The winner of last week’s County Council election for the seat comprising Southborough says he is “acknowledging feedback from the community” regarding the lack of information about how the new Hub development will pay for itself.

Peter Oakford told Southborough News that “as soon as the commercial negotiations are complete”  he would request that the financial information will be made public.

Meanwhile, the demolition of the frontage of the old Southborough Town Council Offices has begun. (Pictures from today below)

Peter Oakford, who won 42% of the vote sent this statement to Southborough News: “I think all candidates participated in a strong and active campaign  which provided local residents with a sound platform to make their voting decision. ”

He continued: “With the election behind us I can now return to the issues I have been working on with the officers of both TWBC & KCC and which formed part of my election manifesto –
* improving road safety for all users,  especially around our local schools,
* Seeking to improve the traffic flow,  air quality and the condition of our local roads, especially the A26,
* Completing the Southborough town centre hub development  – while also acknowledging feedback from the community regarding the financial information which I will be requesting to be made public as soon as the commercial negotiations are complete.

Mr Oakford’s statement ends: “While I would very much like to thank all those that voted for me on May 4th I have been elected to represent all local residents and will continue to do so to the best of my ability”.

The Royal Victoria Hall, which opened in 1900 and was described as Britain’s “first municipal theatre” still stands with its red brick walls in place, but the roof removed.

It is set to be replaced with a combined hall, library, cafe and medical centre building in polycarbonate cladding (example of polycarbonate cladding in London shown below):

At the election, the combined voting share of the opposition Labour and Liberal Democrat parties was 51%.  The defeated Liberal Democrat candidate, Marguerita Morton, told Southborough News: “Of course I am disappointed by the result.  However, if you add the votes cast for Lib Dems and Labour, both of us were against the Hub in our different ways, you would have a majority for not building the excessively expensive hub with the early demolition of the town hall and RVH.”

Ms Morton continued: “I was extremely shocked to see the business plan did not contain figures for future income or expenditure, for that matter. So, we may have the demolition of a town hall and cherished theatre building without a replacement.  That is unacceptable.”

In a statement on Facebook, the Labour candidate, Martin Betts, said: “I take heart from the fact that we nearly doubled and significantly increased the share of our vote and that I came second. In other words we bucked the national trend.”

Mr Betts continued: “We will continue to say that there must be much better engagement between councillors and the people of Southborough and High Brooms. We live here and we will enjoy or suffer the long term effects of any decisions that councillors make. We are not children. We expect to be involved in developing the town’s future, to know the total cost, and what we will be expected to pay year on year into the future. We do deserve better”.