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Wednesday July 21 | 2021
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Lightning strike hits woman as she shelters under tree
BEWL WATER The woman had been visiting the reservoir with her family
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A WOMAN is in a ‘serious condition’ in hospital after being struck by lightning during a heavy storm that passed over Tunbridge Wells on Monday. It happened when the woman, who has not been named, was enjoying a day out with her family at Bewl Water countryside park near Lamberhurst. The woman, who is thought to be in her 40s and live locally, is understood to have been taking shelter beneath a tree and was standing with her husband and daughter, who were both unhurt, when the lightning struck. Staff at Bewl Water have been trained to respond to such incidents, and three of them assisted the
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Threatened cut to services eases as council come out in the black
‘Our balance sheet had been heavily damaged by Covid’ By Richard Williams THE cost of dealing with the Covid pandemic and loss of revenues throughout the crisis, will not leave Council finances in Tunbridge Wells in the red, it has emerged. Despite a fall in revenues from car parks, Council Tax, and Business Rates costing Tunbridge Wells Borough Council [TWBC] around £8million, the authority has managed to balance its books. The result is that an expected withdrawal from its reserves of £1.5million is now not needed, easing fears that the authority would have to had cut to services and sell off some assets. In fact, thanks to the money received from government grants, TWBC has
ended up £19,000 in the black. Speaking exclusively to the Times, Leader of TWBC, Cllr Tom Dawlings said: “Our balance sheets had been heavily damaged by Covid.
‘It’s been possible by the efforts we went through to maximise the grants’ “But the contributions from government mean we do not need now to drawer from our reserves. Any impact on our balance sheets has been covered.” He added: “This has only been possible by the efforts we went through to maximise the grants and the efforts of our staff to administer the best deal for the town.”
At the height of the crisis last year, the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee were told the health emergency was still costing around £1million a month following ‘widespread collapse in local income and all local governments are under extreme pressure’. TWBC’s main revenue streams, such as Council Tax, business rates and car parking fees were cut dramatically due to the various lockdowns. In contrast, the pandemic has increased spending as the Council had to house the homeless and support shielded residents in addition to providing its normal services.
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