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As of Sunday 9th October, I have calculated that there were 29 supporters and 158 opponents of the Hub planning application from named individuals or organisations visible on the Tunbridge Wells planning website. There was one neutral comment. This means 84 per cent of comments were opposed. The people of Southborough now wait to see …
Continue reading 84% of Planning Comments Still Oppose Hub Plans
In an intervention that has angered members of the Southborough theatre community, the Executive Director of Tunbridge Wells Trinity Theatre, Alex Green, has said the Royal Victoria Hall should be demolished. The Trinity Theatre has received hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money in recent decades to convert a church into a theatre. It employs full …
Continue reading Tunbridge Wells Theatre Boss Calls For Old Southborough Theatre to be Demolished
The Conservative councillors who've battled to develop the multi-million pound project to demolish the Royal Victoria Hall and build a "new heart" for Southborough say they are determined to push ahead with their plans despite continuing opposition. Earlier this week, a key statutory consultee, Sport England, said it was making an "outright objection" due to …
Continue reading Hub Project on Track says Southborough Council
A veteran performer on the stage of the Royal Victoria Hall has made a new appeal for it to be saved - rather than demolished - and has listed six "special attributes" the theatre possesses. Derek Holland told Southborough News "The acoustics of the Royal Victoria Hall are better than any theatre I have played …
Continue reading Six Reasons to Save the “Superb” Royal Victoria Hall
In a significant setback to existing proposals for the Southborough Hub development, Sport England have told planners they are making an "outright objection" to the application due to the loss of playing fields used by the local soccer teams. The report by Sport England appeared on Monday morning on the Tunbridge Wells Planning website. (NB This …
Continue reading Sport England says “No” to Hub building plans
The Southborough Councillors who've spent the past year developing plans for the Southborough Hub are unlikely to be swayed by the balance of comments submitted by the public to the planning authority. As of Saturday afternoon, 82 per cent of comments were opposed to the scheme, with 103 objectors and 23 supporters. But Peter Oakford, …
Continue reading “Vibrant Focal Point” or “Plastic Lunch Box”?
As of Saturday morning, with the official deadline for comments to the Tunbridge Wells Planning website passed, opponents of the Hub scheme were in a clear lead with 82 per cent of neighbour comments opposed to the scheme. At 1.00pm on Saturday, the tally was 103 comments against, with 23 in favour. Comments emailed on …
The planning team in Tunbridge Wells says it would welcome the public providing evidence of the historical value of the Royal Victoria Hall. Currently, the Hall, which opened in 1900, is deemed by the planners to have no historic value at all, as it is not on the list of the Borough's Local Heritage Assets. …
Continue reading Planners Want Evidence from Public that Royal Victoria Hall has Historic Value
The architect Ptolemy Dean, who co-presented BBC2's popular "Restoration" series, has studied the planned Southborough Hub scheme and condemned it as "poor". Mr Dean told Southborough News: "I think it is a shame that the replacement scheme is so poor, when something more thoughtful and careful might have been created that incorporated the existing building, …
Continue reading TV Architect Ptolemy Dean Condemns Hub Design as “Poor”
The prospect of a new library for Southborough has been described by Kent County Council as "an exciting moment" for the community. James Pearson, who's the Strategic Manager for Business Development at the KCC Libraries, Registration and Archive service, told Southborough News that the new library will be slightly bigger than the existing facility, with …
