Council officials are to carry out surveys of the parking situation in Pennington Road, after it was discovered that commuters from outside the area may be using the free parking facilities there to catch a daily coach service to London.

Opinion from local people is being sought on the possibility of a parking zone for residents only that may include part of the free Car Park.

Peter Oakford, who is the Town Council member for Southborough North and who also sits on the Tunbridge Wells Borough and Kent County Councils, has distributed a letter to residents, which states:

“I have been contacted by a number of local residents in recent weeks regarding the parking situation on Pennington Road, Park Road and the surrounding streets, including the Pennington Park car park. I would like to gauge the feeling of impacted residents before we take this further and begin a formal public consultation.”

The letter continues: “We are all aware that there are a number of contributing factors to this issue which includes the parking of commuters travelling by bus to London and the large number of commercial vehicles being left on the roads overnight and at weekends, often parked too close to road junctions causing cars to have to pull out blind on to the wrong side of the road”.

Mr Oakford says: “Having met with the parking enforcement manager at TWBC it has been agreed to investigate the possibility of creating a residents parking zone on Pennington Road as far as the Park Road junction, Park Road, Castle Street, Draper Street and Sheffield Road. Two thirds of Pennington Car Park would also be included in the residents zone with one third designated for a maximum of 2 hour stay. There would be an annual charge for a resident’s permit if this project were to go forward which would be discussed as part of the formal consultation.”

He adds: “The other thought is to not to explore a residents parking zone but to convert Pennington Park car park to a period of 2 hours’ maximum stay between 10.00 and 16.00 Monday to Friday. I believe this will cause further congestion on the local streets and the car park needs to be part of a larger solution.

“Using the camera car, TWBC has agreed to begin a survey of the area which will take place at various times of the day and evening to determine vehicle movement and length of stay. This will provide an indication of the number of vehicles that are being left in the area during the working day.

“We are still at the initial planning stage and the inclusion of Pennington car park will need to be agreed with Southborough Council, therefore before we develop this any further which will lead to the formal proposal and public consultation we would like to hear the views of local residents.

Mr Oakford has invited comments to the Southborough Town Council office or to his emails: peteroakford@hotmail.com   or  peter.oakford@kent.gov.uk

So far he says he has had “a great response to my letter”  and will in a week or so collate all the replies for discussion with Highways and TWBC to look at what can be done.

Parking restrictions were imposed in the form of double yellow lines on an extra section of Pennington Road recently after an accident caused by parked cars. This section is shown below but one result was a further reduction in available parking spaces in the road.

Parking was not an issue when a photo was taken from the same spot in what was then called Pennington Lane in 1908.

The coach operator, Centaur, advertises the attractions of the free car park in Pennington Road in its timetables for its London service:

 

 

Plans to demolish Southborough’s 116 year-old Royal Victoria Hall Theatre and create a new hub of public buildings have been sent to the planners but only five members of the public have responded with comments so far.

The application opened for submissions three weeks ago on 19th August, but many residents were away on holiday and few seem to have had time so far to study the detailed drawings. Tunbridge Wells Council confirmed to Southborough News that the closing date for comments is in just two weeks time – the end of Friday 23rd September 2016.

The application includes these details: “The Hub comprises two rectangular blocks connected by a central space provided in the form of a circular drum….The cladding to areas above ground floor is proposed to be finished in a lightweight translucent polycarbonate material which will provide opportunity to illuminate the building at night and also present a contrast to the bold colour of the central roof during the day”.

None of the public comments so far have called for retention of the old Hall, despite a campaign two years ago in which 6,000 people signed a petition to keep it open.

The Royal Victoria Hall was recently rewired and is structurally sound but its seating needs replacing so it was closed two years ago.  Three views of how it looks now are shown below.

Comments on the scheme can be made by accessing the Tunbridge Wells Planning site and searching for  16/06081/HYBRID.  One key document is “Design and Access Statement: 8 of 9” which is at the bottom of the long list of documents.

Plans have been approved by a majority of the elected councillors for Southborough, although Labour and Liberal members on the council are opposed to the latest scheme.

(Picture above: Tiered seating and balcony at existing Royal Victoria Hall, built in 1900)

Given that the project has been developed in conjunction with the planners, the application is only likely to be refused if there is a last minute intervention from a statutory body like Sport England, the Theatre Trust or Historic England.

Sport England have indicated they will be commenting about the loss of two soccer pitches under the scheme.

The picture above shows two local children in the costumes in which they appeared after a production at the Royal Victoria Hall in 1920.  I understand they were nieces of Charles J. Gallard, the former mayor of Southborough who made a speech to open the hall in 1900. No one at the Theatre Trust could tell Southborough News if they would be making a comment on the plans for a new theatre.  Meanwhile, Historic England have decided in the past that the old building is not worthy of a listing which would protect it.

The public’s objections will only be seriously considered if they fall under specific planning criteria.  For example, people will be able to object under policy EN1 if they believe the design of the proposal in terms of “buildings, external appearance, roofscape, materials and landscaping” doesn’t “respect the context of the site”. Further details at:

http://bit.ly/29FGzrG

In the most recent submission, (Friday 9^th September 2016) Matt Spink, who lives in Crendon Park says he believes the “designs look good” for the Hub, but he now opposes the development due to it being funded by the building of blocks of apartments behind his house.

Mr Spink says: “We will have an eyesore built behind us overlooking our garden and ruining our views and our privacy…I would rather not have the Hub if it means that these out of place, poorly planned dwellings do not materialise.”

The first three submissions were positive, with Jacqueline Prance looking forward to “long overdue regeneration.” She states: “It will provide a much needed focal point. Also the new facilities will be more environmentally friendly and cheaper to run and maintain.”

Judy Rose wrote in support saying: “Southborough is in dire need of a facelift and the Hub will not only achieve this, but will also be a centre for the community to use and enjoy. I look forward to seeing the project completed and for it to become the heart of Southborough.”

Jennifer Wright, who has a flat opposite the site on London Road expressed concern about parking but wrote in support, saying: “we are excited by the prospect of these services for the local community – particularly as my husband and I work in theatre.”

Another resident Lynn Green objects on parking and traffic concerns and says she doesn’t believe the town needs a new theatre. She also expresses concern about a lack of a business plan for the development.

Lynn Green commented: “I find it rather worrying that Southborough Town Council has not already considered the need to balance income and costs of running such a site….I imagine the cost of maintenance, security, staffing etc will be huge.”

A statement released on Friday by the Southborough doctors’ surgery indicates that the practice has once more changed its mind. Instead of moving to the Yew Tree Road Car Park the surgery will now move to nearby Pinewood Court at the end of August.

(UPDATE: The doctors’ move to Pinewood Court went ahead and they are now there. UPDATE SEPT 30: The doctors now plan to move back to their old site before the end of the year after repairs to the roof and floor are completed.)

It is thought that arrangements to construct temporary modular buildings and associated utilities could not be completed in time for a direct move to the car park. It is also believed the planning authorities had concerns.

This is the latest statement from the St. Andrew’s medical practice:

“We can now confirm that we will be leaving our current premises after the close of evening surgery on Friday 26th August 2016.

“It has been necessary to secure an interim site at Town and Country’s Pinewood Court from 30th August 2016. This interim move allows us to continue our medical services in Southborough whilst we seek to secure the permissions required for the new temporary surgery to be built at Yew Tree car park.

“Our address from August 30th will be: Pinewood Court, Pinewood Gardens, Southborough, Kent. TN4 0NP

“We apologise to all our patients for the inconvenience caused and are very grateful for all the support received in helping to ensure that St. Andrew’s continues to remain in Southborough.”

Also on Friday, Southborough News obtained the full statement from the former Southborough doctors who own the existing site, which they issued to the Courier on June 30th, 2016.

It remains unclear why the site’s owners and the current doctors were unable to reach a compromise deal to allow the practice to continue operating in their current premises.

Dr Paul Bowden, a co-owner of the building and who was responsible for the building of the surgery in 1987, said: “We started negotiations for a new lease to the St. Andrew’s Partnership in June 2012 and Heads of Terms for a new lease of 15 years were agreed and signed by both parties in March 2013.

“The form of the lease was broadly agreed by January 2015. In March 2015, the partnership served notice that the taking of a lease on the building would not be in their best interests and they offered to purchase the building at well below market value. This was declined by the owners.

“In June 2015, the Partnership tried to re-negotiate the entirety of the arrangement in particular the lease to be for a period of 5 years only. This was also unacceptable to the owners.

“Since June last year little communication has been received from the Partnership or their legal representatives.

“The negotiations having been ongoing for nearly four years and now seemingly stalled the owners were left with no option but to try to bring the matter to a head by serving notice to quit.

“The intention of the notice to quit was to bring the Partnership back to the negotiating table and to proceed with the lease. The option of a lease is still available and welcome to the owners but the Partnership has, once again, failed to communicate.”

The Courier published much of the above statement in this report on June 30th, which also includes comments from Cllr Peter Oakford:

http://bit.ly/2aisiix

Doctors at the St. Andrew’s Medical Centre in Southborough have confirmed they will be leaving their building at the end of August to move into “modular” buildings on the Yew Tree Road Car Park.

An earlier scheme to move first to Pinewood Court has been abandoned.

The doctors’ statement says:  “We can now confirm that we will be leaving our premises at Pinewood Gardens after the close of evening surgery on Friday 26th August 2016.”

“Our new site will be in Yew Tree Road car park and we are working hard to achieve an opening date of Tuesday 30th August, this date will be confirmed as soon as possible.”

“With 6 Weeks to go the new building has been commissioned, it is a single storey modular build commonly used within the NHS for clinical services and is built to exceed all NHS premises requirements. The new building offers the same number of consultation and treatment rooms ensuring our level of service continues.”

It seems converting half the Yew Tree Road car park into a doctors’ surgery did not need planning permission, so one disruptive move into Pinewood Court has been avoided.

But mystery still surrounds the issue of why the surgery has to move out of its building in Pinewood Gardens, which was purpose built in the 1980s.

It seems two retired doctors who own the current surgery site had wanted the current doctors (the St Andrew’s Partnership) to sign a new 15-year lease, but the current doctors had failed to negotiate about terms, amid the prospect of moving into a new building in the planned Southborough Hub.

One of the owners responsible for serving a “notice to quit” for August 31st said the order was served merely to bring the matter to a head.  Dr Paul Bowden told the Courier:  “The option of a lease is still available and welcome to the owners but the Partnership has, once again, failed to communicate.”

The Southborough News blog has still not been able to obtain any further clarification about why 8,000 patients and staff at the doctors’ surgery are having to uproot themselves,  presumably at extra expense to the the NHS, when the site’s owners apparently want the surgery to stay in its current building at Pinewood Gardens.

 

As Southborough Town Council pushes on with developing its plans for the multi-million pound Hub development, Southborough News has heard from two local Councillors who remain poles apart on the best way forward.

Cllr Zulhash Uddin from the majority Conservative group told us of the “real enthusiasm” he now saw from residents towards the Hub, but Cllr Nick Blackwell, who heads the Labour group, told us he was not convinced that the current plans represented the right solution for Southborough.

Both interviews are now available here as YouTube videos. Southborough News spoke to the two Councillors after the last presentation to the public of the Hub plans at Southborough Library on Saturday 16^th July.

At a meeting on Monday 18^th July, the Conservative majority on the council passed a motion to send the current Hub plans to Tunbridge Wells District Council for planning approval.  If no objections are allowed, the scheme would see the demolition of Southborough’s existing theatre, library and medical centre.

We asked Cllr Uddin about the loss of the 100 year old Royal Victoria Hall Theatre. He responded: “We are losing a building which had a lot of history and heritage, but also we hope that the decision that the council has taken will bring something bigger and better for the communities to enjoy. It was a very difficult decision, but the council had to make a decision.”

Cllr Uddin told us it would be a “sustainable project” and a “legacy for the community”. He  concluded: “This is bringing life back into Southborough ….and a community spirit back into Southborough.”

But Nick Blackwell of Labour told us he was “very sad” that the Royal Victoria Hall Theatre was not going to be retained and also expressed concern about the increasing numbers of homes planned for the site and the impact of those homes on traffic congestion. The Local plan for the site had suggested 25 homes were appropriate, but the number of dwellings now planned to be built on the Ridgewaye fields is 69.

Cllr Blackwell also remarked on the lack of a published business plan, arguing that if the building revenues don’t match the running costs when the Hub is built, it could mean a “massive hike” in council tax.

Cllr Blackwell then criticised the design being sent to the planners: “It beggars belief that they have designed a hall …that doesn’t contain any windows….This is supposed to be a sustainable building except it will be lit by artificial illumination….If they had consulted properly, this could have been a really good hall.”

He concluded: “We are getting a very cheap building. We’ve been told we’re getting Prada – we’re getting Poundland.”

Opinion remains deeply divided in Southborough about the building of 69 new homes on the Ridgewaye playing fields to fund the Hub development project.

After three further sessions in Southborough library over the past week, many residents came away from viewing the plans hoping for a “fresh start”, while others expressed deep concern that the development would worsen the town’s already chronic traffic congestion.

Southborough News spoke to people as they emerged from the library on Saturday morning when elected councillors and officers from Kent County Council were available to answer questions.

A film of the extended public comments can be viewed here:

Among those who spoke to us on emerging from the presentation, resident Ian Skilling said: “We have looked at the plans and we are really impressed with them.  Wipe the slate clean and start again!”

Pamela Wiley said:  “I am really quite pleased with the plans for the theatre because I think that’s going to be a really good adaptable space. But my concern is there is so much dense housing with its access onto Yew Tree Road which is already heavy with traffic.”

Glenys Dickenson said: “I live in the Ridgewaye and my biggest concern is the volume of traffic.”

Clare Martin said: “I was concerned before – and now I am concerned even more. I don’t see why we need a four story monstrosity that doesn’t fit in the landscape plonked in the middle of Southborough.”

Stephen Lucas said: “Two of the major football pitches will be taken up with house building so that means about 200 children that play there every weekend won’t have somewhere to play football. The new policy of building houses on football pitches to secure money, I believe is wrong.”

But Janice told us: “The plans look really really good. I am particularly pleased that the Ridgeway fields are not being too encroached upon…I can’t wait for it to start…we need it all to be brand spanking new.”

And Shane said: “It sounds quite exciting.  These things are good for the community.  It’s only building the community up more, especially for the younger generations as well, which is really important.”

Don Buckland commented: “The Victoria Hall has been a wonderful space for amateur theatre and musical theatre. If it was possible to retain it in the plans, I would say do so. But if they are determined to knock it down, they must replace it with something similar.”

As expected, on Monday 18th July, the scheme was approved by the Conservative majority on Southborough Town Council, despite opposition from Labour and Liberal Democrat members.  It will now be sent to the joint project board which has one member each from the county, district and town councils.  All three councils back the plans.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council planners will then consider the scheme over the summer and could approve it by the autumn.

An interview with councillors and an official from the libraries department should be available on this site in the next week.

 

You will have to act fast if you want to influence the future look of Southborough, as local councillors push ahead with plans to demolish the 100-year old council offices and Royal Victoria Hall Theatre.

The Town Council has announced that there is just one week left for public consultation on their scheme for a new theatre, doctors’ surgery, council offices and library.  The council is then set to send off their final blueprint to the planners after a vote at the full council on Monday 18th July.

The planning application will be considered over the summer by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, when the public will only be able to register valid objections if they fall under specific planning criteria.  For example, people will be able to object under policy EN1 if they believe the design of the proposal in terms of “buildings, external appearance, roofscape, materials and landscaping” doesn’t “respect the context of the site”. Further details at:

http://bit.ly/29FGzrG

The final Southborough Hub plans will be on show in Southborough Library at these times:

• Monday 11 July 9am-1pm
• Wednesday 13 July  3pm-6pm
• Saturday 16 July 10am-1pm

The council says “while the external footprint and framework of the scheme is not up for comment, we welcome your input on how we can further improve the internal layout, finishes and services for the community hub.”

Comments need to be sent by email to southboroughhub@kent.gov.uk by midnight on Sunday 17th.  The planning application is to be submitted by July 27th with the planning outcome expected sometime in October.

Since the original public consultation last Christmas, the theatre and medical centre have been swapped round and retail space added along the London Road.

I have provided screen grabs of the main elements of the latest drawings of the Hub in this blog – here is the link to a page that holds the pdf of the full plans (where it says Community Hub Draft Plans 05.07.16):http://bit.ly/29vDBts

Following concerns expressed by members of the Southborough Society that the library and theatre in the new hub won’t be as good as the existing facilities, the man at Kent County Council (KCC) responsible for delivering the scheme has just written to the Society to offer reassurance.

KCC’s Jonathan White said: “I would definitely hope that the final product will be as good if not better than what is currently there, but obviously that is quite subjective in terms of what styles/colours etc the individual likes.”

Mr White continued: “I can confirm that the library will also be larger than its current facility and is almost certainly likely to have more books on that basis. I am not the service delivery side so cannot definitely confirm this, but from the drawings and the furniture they are ordering, that would appear to be the case. There will also be a space for the children’s library within this as well”.

On the concerns about demolishing the Royal Victoria Hall Theatre, which opened in 1900, Jonathan White continues: “Seating capacity has been retained, the stage will be bigger and there will be more balconies. I have never been given the exact square metres of the current facility with all the roof voids and basements so I cannot confirm for certain the sizes but given that we have four floors I would say there is a strong likelihood that the current facility will be larger”.

Mr White continues: “We have worked with Charcoal Blue who are theatre consultants, the theatre trust and we have met with Trinity, FRVH etc… to ensure we get feedback on all elements of the theatre aspect. We have tried to meet all their aspirations but there have been several instances when requirements have diverged and we have tried to tread a fine line between them”.

Meanwhile mystery surrounds the shocking news that the Southborough’s main doctors’ surgery is to move out of its building in Pinewood Gardens on August 31st.  Patients will have to go to the Pinewood Court building for three months. After that, they will have to visit portacabins in the Yew Tree Road car park until the new medical centre in the hub is built.

It seems two retired doctors who own the current surgery site had wanted the current doctors (the St Andrew’s Partnership) to sign a new 15-year lease, but the current doctors had failed to negotiate about terms, amid the prospect of moving into a new building in the hub.

One of the owners responsible for serving a “notice to quit” for August 31st said the order was served merely to bring the matter to a head.  Dr Paul Bowden told the Courier:  “The option of a lease is still available and welcome to the owners but the Partnership has, once again, failed to communicate.”

The Southborough News blog has not been able to obtain any further clarification from Southborough Town Councillors about why 8,000 patients and staff at the doctors’ surgery are having to uproot themselves three times when the site’s owners want the surgery to stay in its current building at Pinewood Gardens.

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The town’s heritage and amenities group, the Southborough Society, says a museum to display the area’s rich and varied history should be incorporated into plans for the new Hub.

The Society set out its ideas at its Annual General Meeting on Thursday night which saw the best attendance for a decade, with around 50 members and non-members attending.

The evening began with a talk about conservation work on Southborough Common given by Ian Johnstone of the Kent High Weald project and concluded with many members expressing their concern about the planned replacement for Southborough’s currently well-used library.

The Society’s retiring President, Lt Col Maxwell Macfarlane, told the Society’s members his view was that the replacement library should be a “self-contained quiet room, not a corridor with books in it”. He continued: “I’m worried that the library in the Hub is not going to be what it ought to be.”

The current brief for the new library has been published under a Freedom of Information request to Kent County Council.  The Council says its aim is  “to create a “buzzy”, busy space” in the Hub.  For full details click this link:

http://bit.ly/1RfwSeZ

In his address on Thursday, the Southborough Society Chairman, Michael Howes, told members: “This year is a turning point in the history of Southborough as we eagerly await the planning application for the Hub project. This has proved to be a controversial and divisive development – to say the least – and the Society has actively encouraged members to monitor the scheme at its various stages including the public consultation which was held in January.”

Michael Howes continued: “A pitiful number of people responded to this consultation and this suggests a huge apathy amongst members of the community who are presumably fed up with this political hot potato, not to mention the current eyesore of the site on London Road”.

The Southborough Society has had several meetings with Jonathan White, the project coordinator at the KCC, to advise him of the facilities the Society would like to be included.

Michael Howes’ address continued: “In particular, we have pushed for a museum area within the new library complex so that Southborough can at long last have somewhere to show off its rich and varied history. The draft plans which were released last week definitely have room for improvement and the local theatre people in particular have been vocal about the inadequacies of the proposed facilities. We look forward to the project progressing rapidly and intend to keep a very close eye on the developments”.

Labour’s Dianne Hill has won a convincing victory in Thursday’s Borough Council election for the ward of Southborough (South) and High Brooms.

She said said she was delighted by an “amazing” result, having achieved 52 % of the vote in a ward where the leading candidates in recent years have usually taken the seat with only 30-40% of the votes cast.

The turnout of 32 % was similar to the last time a local election was held without a simultaneous General Election.

 

During the campaign Labour’s Dianne Hill, told voters of her “regret” that the Royal Victoria Hall is to be demolished, while the Conservative candidate, Chris Camp,  had said he was “a big supporter” of the new facilities.

After the result on Friday, Dianne Hill told Southborough News: “I am delighted to have been elected again to the Borough Council today with a decisive majority. My victory is a victory for all of the people of Southborough and High Brooms who have said that they have had enough of the secrecy surrounding the development of our town centre.”

She continued: “People living in the town have said they want the chance to see and comment on the plans for the Hub before they are sent for final planning consent. Together with my Labour colleagues on the council I will continue to press for more openness in decision making and better communication with, and involvement of, all of the people and groups who will be using it long after the councillors and planners have gone.”

Election Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Dianne Hill	Labour	910	52%
Christopher Roger Camp	Conservative	444	26%
Keith Murray-Jenkins	UK Independence Party	197	11%
Matt Lyons	Green Party	97	6%
Jo Wright	Liberal Democrat	91	5%

Total votes 1,739

The ward is traditionally Labour, but the Conservatives won the ward in May last year.

Compared with last year in the same ward, Conservative votes dropped by 845 while Labour votes dropped by 325.

Compared with May 2014, Labour votes were up by 308 and Conservatives down by 147.

Meanwhile the team behind the Southborough Hub development have issued a new picture of what the new buildings will look like.  See below.  The four story building on the left is understood to be the replacement for the Royal Victoria Hall.  The library has the circular roof and the planned medical centre is somewhere behind in the picture.

The Southborough (South) and High Brooms ward has 3 councillors, who each face re-election every 4 years.  After Friday’s vote, the ward’s councillors are now Dianne Hill (Labour), Zulhash Uddin (Conservative) and Graham Munn (Labour).

Southborough North ward has two councillors.  They are David Elliott and Joe Simmons who are both Conservatives.  There was no voting in Southborough North this year.

Dianne Hill’s victory was the only win for Labour on the Borough Council in this round of voting. The Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, which runs most services and is the planning authority, saw voters electing 13 Conservatives, 2 Liberal Democrats and 1 Labour councillor.

For comparison, here are the past four year’s results:

May 2015 election result for Southborough (South) and High Brooms:

Zulhash Uddin	Conservative	1289	38%
Dianne Hill	Labour	1235	36%
Naz Mian	UKIP	546	16%
Marguerita Gladys Morton	Liberal Democrat	325	10%

Total 3395 voted out of 5331 electorate

May 2014 election result for Southborough (South) and High Brooms:

Graham John Munn	Labour	602	32%
Peter John Oakford	Conservative	591	32%
Richard Harrington	UK Independence Party	486	26%
Marguerita Gladys Morton	Liberal Democrat	190	10%

Total 1869 votes

May 2012 election result for Southborough (South) and High Brooms:

Alain Matthew Bryan Lewis	Labour	630	41%
Nasir Jamil	Conservative	604	40%
Christine Jennifer Marshall	UK Independence Party	193	13%
Marguerita Morton	Liberal Democrat	96	6%

Total 1523  votes out of 5303 electorate

 

If you haven’t been out today, you may have missed the best of the Bank Holiday weather.  On the Tunbridge Wells Circular Walk from Pennnington Road out to the Viaduct and beyond, the bluebells are at their best.

The Woodland Trust is inviting people to tell everyone about the best sitings:

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/bluebell-watch/

The tiny lambs are another reason to venture out.

Plus we met one family group which has found a new way of getting children enthused about a long walk.  It’s a free app to get children to hunt for hidden treasures:

https://www.geocaching.com/play