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Wednesday, February 10, 2016
WHAT’S THE DRAGON STAR UP TO IN OUR HIGH STREET? Page 3
Watchdog warns about ‘dormitory town’ threat By Lesley Potter newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk
TUNBRIDGE WELLS is in danger of turning into a ‘dormitory of over-priced flats for commuters’ according to a stark warning from the Civic Society. In a letter to this newspaper from chairman Dr Janet Sturgis, the society says the number of new homes being approved could lead to ‘widespread destruction’ of the environment. This could damage ‘not only our architectural heritage, gardens and green spaces, but the fields and woodlands on the edge of the town and in the villages’. The letter was sent in response to an interview published two weeks ago in the Times with Council leader David Jukes and chief executive William Benson setting out the Council’s five-year plan. The society, which is credited with saving the former Trinity Church from being bulldozed, points to the recently approved Dairy Crest development as an example of the Council breaching its own guidelines. “This is not simply scaremongering,” writes Dr Sturgis. “The recent decision on the Dairy Crest site in St John’s shows how these pressures are already having an effect. “Here the Council approved a development of 58 flats on a site they had initially assessed as suitable for 31, breaching several of their own polices, overshadowing and overlooking nearby houses, and destroying the historic façade of the old Mission Hall. “This can’t be right. The Dairy Crest development was opposed by about 150 individual residents, the Civic Society,
NEW APARTMENTS Flat building continues at a pace
ARRESTED Husband Stuart Andrews
as well as two members of the Planning Committee.” Under the Council’s existing plan land has to be found for up to 300 homes a year until 2026, but the Civic Society says the plan is being replaced with an ‘assessment of need’ for twice as many. The Society is calling on the Council to lobby central government for Green Belt restrictions on development in and around the town, as has already been done in a neighbouring authority in East Sussex. Councillor Alan McDermott, planning chief for the borough council, said: “The Council has made a commitment to produce a new comprehensive Local Plan for the borough which will guide the area’s future development. “In the case of the Dairy Crest site,
the proposals were assessed against national and local planning policies which seek to optimise the potential of sites to accommodate development. “This brownfield site is located close to local services and is on a main bus route, so is well suited to a high density development. “Although there were many objections, it is the role of the Local Planning Authority to weigh up differing views about development proposals and assess these against the planning policy background. In this instance the Planning Committee’s judgement was that planning permission should be granted.”
See page 18 for full letter
Murder suspect leaves hospital POLICE were last night questioning a City management consultant after his wife was found murdered at their home in Benenden. Stuart Andrews, 54, was discharged from hospital where he was taken with injuries after his arrest in London on Friday. His wife, Caroline (pictured), aged 52, was found dead at their home in the village on Thursday afternoon. The couple moved to Benenden in 2009 after selling their home in Eynsford, according to newspaper reports. Staff and children at Benenden Primary School, where Mrs Andrews worked as a supply teacher, were in shock at the news this week.
For full report, see page 3