Interview with Glenn Lester, Mayor of Southborough, recorded on Friday 8^th April 2016

Q: For many years, there was a concern that the price of this big development would be that Southborough would be losing a big chunk of its playing fields.  Is a big proportion of what people use at the moment for football or just general recreation – will a big chunk of that be lost?

A: Most of the land that will be lost is currently quite scrubland at the back of the Water Margin restaurant. There is going to be the loss of two small football pitches there, but with consultation with the football clubs and the benefit of bringing forward a new pavilion for them and a new way of them being able to operate their club.  We have always worked closely with the football club, as closely as we can to make sure the impact of this development has the minimum impact on what they provide for young people. I think there is 500 plus young people play football for the Ridgeway and they have sole use of the football pitches in that area so we were keen to engage with them right from the very start.

Q: So what sort of proportion of the playing fields are going to be lost?

I can’t remember the exact numbers, but if you look overall – the Ridgewaye playing fields and the Yew Tree playing fields, I think it equates to something about 15 per cent.

Q: Looking at the library facilities – that’s a facility that lots of people in Southborough use – it is meant to be one of the best used libraries – on the plans that were put forward at the consultation, it didn’t seem as if there would be many books in the new library. It was called a hall/library. At the moment, there is a separate area for childrens’ books, which people seem to value. What will happen in the new facility? Has that now been nailed down any more definitely?

A: Libraries have been struggling for a long time over their usage. Now Soutborough library is bucking the trend slightly. It is a well used libary. We’ve had consultation with Kent libraries providers and what seems to make libraries work well is combining them in with other facilities so libraries with cafes in them, libraries where you can visit the town council, libraries where you can book tickets for a theatre show. It’s about bringing forward new modern library design that allows all of these activities to go along hand in glove, so hopefully one aids the other. So footfall to the new medical centre….a patient may perhaps say I’m going to pop into the library, it is right next door. I’m going to pick up a book on x, y, z. Oh, I’ll grab a cup of coffee while I’m there. Oh, I shall also pop into Southborough Town Council and have a chat with the clerk about a fishing permit for next year’s fishing season and I can also buy my tickets for the next theatre show that’s going on there. So, it is about a joined up approach to our service in Southborough that allows a new central position where all of these activities come together.

Q: And what about the size of the facility – the number of books, the ability to have the slightly noisy children sometimes in a different area from other people?

We are going through some really detailed design at the moment with the internal spaces of the library and these have all been brought forward that you do need quiet spaces. You do need an opportunity for an area where parents can sit with children and read books quietly and undisturbed by somebody in the café having a louder conversation. All of this is going to be brought forward in the final internal designs. There will be areas of flexibility within the library. There may be shelving that can be stowed away, so if there was going to be a theatre performance, we might have – if you can visualise – library shelving on wheels that could be stowed into the corner so that space can double up as the foyer into the theatre all at the same time. It’s about making best use of our money and making best use of the money that’s available to provide the most services possible. But also making every square foot of that new facility work hard for Southborough and work for the people of Southborough.

 

Interview recorded on Friday 8^th April 2016

My name is Glenn Lester. I am the Mayor and Chairman of Southborough Town Council. I have been a member of Southborough Town Council for 5 years. I have been the mayor for the last 12 months. I come up for re-election as mayor in a month’s time. Hopefully I will be doing it for another 12. I have been heavily involved with the hub project and that’s the reason for carrying on for 2 years really as I seem to be the key player.

Q: How long have you lived in Southborough? What do you do in Southborough?

I moved to Southborough about 25 years ago when I met my wife who came from Southborough. She lived in Brokes Way. I was a young lad. I lived in Wadhurst – a carpenter and joiner, moved to Southborough, started my business. I am a building contractor based in Draper Street in Southborough. My children went to school in Southborough.

Q: In the past few months the plans to develop the key buildings of Southbrough – the library, the council offices, theatre – have all moved forward. So where are we with this big project?

A: We are moving forward really pro-actively at the moment. We are in the final stages of bringing forward a planning proposal which would be submitted to Tunbridge Wells Planning Authority at some point hopefully in the next 4 to 6 weeks. The final details have been drawn together with consultation with Southborough Town Council, the libraries of Kent. We are trying to involve as many key players as possible, so the football club has had a lot of input with regards to the pavilion.   And it is not just about making buildings that look nice, it is about forming buildings that function well. So the operations of the building are key to the design of the building working well in the future.

Q: At the point of the planning application, will the people of Southborough have a chance to make their views known?

A: We obviously had our consultation. Once the final drawings are complete, then there will be an opportunity for the residents of Southborough to come and have a look, put a little bit of input into that and make sure they are happy, make sure that we are happy. Obviously, we’ve taken forward all the information we were given from the consultation and we have made quite considerable changes to the design. It is still fundamentally the same as the Option 1 with the round circular building in the middle and the boxes off of, to include the medical centre and the new theatre/public hall space that can be used as a theatre as well as other public facilities. We very much did a “you said, we did” approach and we’ve taken on board as much information as credible change as we can to try and bring forward a design that’s got as many people’s input as possible.

Q: So what’s your vision for what this will do for Southborough in the future?

Ah…my vision for Southborough….After 25 years plus of dereliction in the middle of Southborough High Street, the fact that it’s been woefully neglected, numerous different land owners on the old public house site that was known as the Bell, I am passionate about giving Southborough back a central hub that will create a heart to our town to enable every member of our town to participate in what we’ve got to offer. New library facilities and new doctor’s facilities. Our town has grown considerably over the past 25 years and the doctor’s facilities haven’t really changed significantly. We have got Southorough Town Council that’s squashed into three old Victorian rooms where the wallpaper is peeling off the walls and the windows are rotten and falling out. It’s time that Southborough had a breath of fresh air and I think however we move forward – and obviously we have made a decision following the consultation to move forward with option 1 – whatever we come forward with – we really want this to be the beating heart of our town and give Southborough an identity.

 

By Anya Heilpern and Martin Webber

For democracy to work, voters need information. Information seems to us to be in pretty scarce supply when it comes to the future of Southborough.  Brief local newspaper articles or posts on Facebook sites clearly don’t do the job. That’s the reason we decided to start this blog.

Southborough is a beautiful town.  But it is on the brink of major change with continuing pressures to build more housing, worsening traffic congestion and the planned demolition of the 100 year old Royal Victoria Hall.  In our first major article, we have interviewed the head of Southborough Town Council, Glenn Lester.

He is a man who says he has the vision to create a “new heart” for Southborough.  Is he right?  Or are his plans impractical and threaten to make our library, theatre and medical services worse than before?

We are not trying to campaign.  We want to provide facts and a diversity of informed opinion and let the people of Southborough decide who they believe.