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Wednesday July 14 | 2021
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Rates six times higher than when lockdown delayed By Robert Forrester CASES of coronavirus have increased more than six times over the last month since the easing of restrictions were delayed. On Monday, the PM announced July 19 will see an end to all legal Covid rules that have seen mandatory mask wearing and social distancing to reduce transmission of Covid-19. It comes four weeks after the so called ‘Freedom Day’ was delayed on June 14 due to concerns about the Delta variant, which currently accounts for 99 per cent or of the confirmed cases in the UK.
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FOOD FESTIVAL: Thousands visited Dunorlan Park at the weekend for Pub in the Park, hosted by chef and TV presenter James Martin (above). During the event another popular TV chef revealed he’s opening a restaurant in Tunbridge Wells … more on page 3
Hybrid working opens door for Town Hall office complex
Initiative could end years of Council political infighting By Richard Williams
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
SUPPORTED BY
MOST of the Town Hall in Tunbridge Wells is to be converted into commercial office space with private business paying the bill of ‘less than £10million’. That’s the plan put forward by a cross party council committee which means it is almost certain to get the green light. It would end years of political infighting over what to do with the ageing building. Between 150-200 council staff normally based at the Town Hall will continue the mixture of home and office working adopted during the pandemic, freeing up around two thirds of the space.
The move comes after AXA, which has offices opposite the Town Hall, announced last month that it has adopted a similar flexible approach to its
‘It’s what the town needs. People coming here for two to three days to work’ workforce, allowing it to sell off two of its buildings. Councillors at yesterday’s [Tuesday July 13] Finance and Governance Cabinet Advisory Board were told that the Town
Hall scheme has been devised by the Cross Party Group of councillors set up after the failed Calverley Square project. The group, which features councillors from Labour, the Lib Dems, Alliance and the Conservatives was created to find alternatives to the £108million civic centre complex that was scrapped at a cost of nearly £11million. Even before the pandemic, the Council had said the Town Hall was too large for its needs. The 1940s building is also in dire need of renovation, and currently
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During the seven days to June 14, when the PM delayed the final stage of lockdown easing, there were just 35 cases of the virus reported in Tunbridge Wells. By the time Boris Johnson announced on Monday that the easing of restrictions will go ahead on July 19, cases of the virus had rocketed to 255. The increase in infections means that the rate per 100,000 people – used to compare different areas of the country – has risen from 29.5 in June to 214.8 on Monday, according to Monday’s figures from the Public Health England. Similar figures can be seen for the surrounding areas. Wealden saw its weekly cases of Covid-19 increase from 35 in June to 311 on Monday, or 192.6 per 100,000. However, deaths and hospitalisations from Covid-19 have remained low across the country despite the surge in infections. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust [MTW], which runs both Maidstone Hospital and the one in Pembury, has seen just one death since February this year.