Members of the public have been given extra time to have their say about Gatwick’s expansion plans, which could double the airport’s size. Gatwick wants to spend £ 2.2 billion to upgrade an existing backup runway, which would allow many more daytime flights. The Airport says night flights would not increase. Campaigners against the Gatwick's …

Continue reading More Gatwick Planes: Consultation Extended

Members of the public have just a few hours left to have their say about Gatwick's expansion plans, which could double the airport's size. Gatwick wants to spend £ 2.2 billion to upgrade an existing backup runway, which would allow many more daytime flights. The Airport says night flights would not increase.  Although the planning …

Continue reading More Gatwick Planes: Consultation Deadline Today

BBC journalists in Tunbridge Wells are on strike in protest at management plans to axe around half the locally made programming at BBC Radio Kent. A 48-hour strike began yesterday (Wed 7 June) and ends on Thursday night. Staff are also still "working to rule". Speaking from the picket line outside BBC South East studios …

Continue reading BBC Strike Halts Local News for 48 Hours

The newly re-elected leader of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has said that air quality is improving in the town thanks to the controversial new traffic rules that have led to thousands of fines for local motorists. Ben Chapelard from the Liberal Democrats said that the number of cars per day wrongly driving past the War …

Continue reading TWBC Leader Defends Fines for Driving Past Town Hall

A campaign to prevent people in High Brooms having their votes subsumed into a proposed new Borough council ward area dominated by voters in Tunbridge Wells has been successful. The initial proposals from the Local Government Boundary Commission had ignored the fact that the district of "Southborough and High Brooms" has historically been a separate …

Continue reading Victory for High Brooms in Council Ward Battle

The two Borough Council seats up for grabs in the Southborough area have been won by John Francis of Labour and Joe Opara of the Liberal Democrats. Sixteen seats were being contested in the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council of 48 seats. The results are unlikely to alter the leadership of the council overall, which is …

Continue reading Victory for Labour and Lib Dems in Southborough & High Brooms Area

Voters in Southborough and High Brooms go to the Polls on Thursday with some Tunbridge Wells Borough Council seats and all the seats on Southborough Town Council up for grabs. In the Southborough North Borough Council ward, the sitting Borough councillor Trevor Poile is standing down from one of the two seats in the ward. …

Continue reading Council Voting on Thursday in Southborough

Hundreds of people joined in the Mayday Festival on the Southborough Cricket ground on Bank Holiday Monday, with the welcome return of children dancing around the Maypole. It was the second Mayday Festival organised by Nell Price and the Southborough Street Community. Last year they revived the Maypole tradition in Southborough for the first time …

Continue reading Maypole Returns to Southborough

The government has extended the trial bus fare subsidy scheme to the end of June. Thanks to government support, the £ 2 maximum single fares apply on Arriva's routes 7 and 402 connecting Southborough with Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.  (A list of route exceptions is at the end of the blog.) Meanwhile, there is still …

Continue reading Reduced Bus Fares: £2 Single Ticket to Continue

A 24-hour strike by BBC staff in Tunbridge Wells began today as journalists protested about cuts to local radio which will see BBC Radio Kent's most popular show face the axe. The dispute is over changes proposed by BBC bosses in November which will see Radio Kent share much of its output with neighbouring BBC …

Continue reading BBC Strike Over Local Radio Cuts Takes Regional TV News Off Air