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The latest plans for the Southborough Hub were approved by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Planning Committee last week with one Conservative councillor abstaining and the remaining 10 councillors voting in favour. In a social media post, the man overseeing the scheme for Southborough, Ian Kinghorn said: "This has been a long journey to get to …
Continue reading Scaled-back Southborough Hub Plans Win Approval from Planners
The strong feelings at last week's first ever Southborough Town Meeting on the latest Hub plans have not yet prompted a major response on the Tunbridge Wells Planning Portal, where residents' chance to place objections runs out soon. Only 27 people had registered comments as of Monday afternoon. Below is a 3 minute youtube video …
Continue reading Local Priest says Southborough Hub: “Could Turn into a Complete Disaster”
The first ever Town Meeting in Southborough saw 180 people approve a motion arguing that trust had broken down between the community and Southborough Town Council and calling for the formation of a new advisory group to include theatre and other community groups. The meeting was called under legislation that allows two Councillors to call …
Continue reading Angry Town Meeting Calls for More Consultation About Southborough Hub
Southborough's first ever "Town Meeting" will be held next week to find out what residents think of the newly revised Southborough Hub scheme to spend £10 million on a new hall, library, medical centre and football pavilion. The Hub replaces the demolished Royal Victoria Hall Theatre (pictured below in May 2017). But critics say the …
The Councils designing the Southborough Hub have responded to public comments and it appears the plans may be changed to incorporate a larger kitchen or bar. A new planning application is scheduled to be submitted in November 2018 with an outcome early in 2019 prior to start on site in 2019. Compared with the original …
Continue reading Council Responds to Public Concerns About Southborough Hub Design
The latest images for how Southborough's new Hub have been released, just as the national experts on theatre provision called the decision not to include a cafe in the complex "a grave mistake." The statutory advisory group Theatres Trust said it did not have confidence in the long term viability of the Hub based on …
Continue reading New Hub Images Released as Theatre Experts Warn of “Grave Mistake”
The most prominent Conservative on Southborough Town Council has described the latest hub plans issued on Friday as "great" and perfectly meeting the design brief. Councillor Peter Oakford (pictured below) who sits on Kent County Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Southborough Town Council also confirmed that space has been left for a retail unit …
Continue reading Southborough Hub: “Design is Great” says leading Conservative
The Southborough Hub is to built with a rectangular footprint according to new plans issued to the public on Friday, with the previous "circle and two blocks" layout having been abandoned. The new plans were outlined at a Southborough Town Council meeting on Thursday, although no artist impressions as to how the building will actually …
Southborough Town Council will meet tonight to be shown revised plans for the Southborough Hub development by Cllr Ian Kinghorn, who has told Southborough News that "these are exciting times for Southborough and we can at long last see the regeneration of Southborough". But Cllr Kinghorn (pictured below) confirmed that the revised designs must go …
Continue reading New Look for Southborough Hub to be Unveiled Tonight
Around 60 people attended two days of group tours explaining the history of Victorian Southborough's most famous family, the Salomons, as part of this year's Heritage Open Days. The Salomon Estate is now privately owned by the Markerstudy Group but under the terms of the donation of the house (originally to Kent County Council) by …
Continue reading History of Salomons Estate Explained in Heritage Open Day Tour
