IT ’ S T IS A A V NT O T SA OT R G
e
pa
ES
TA
ISH BL
ED
ge
12
01732 432121
OF TONBRIDGE
Se
A21 TAXIS
Local, National and International
r ur Yo EE pe a FRwsp
Tonbridge Local & Long Distance Female Female Drivers Drivers Available Available
Times
All the news that matters
Ne
Wednesday December 11 | 2019
Inspector turns down plans for High Street flats and nuns’ abbey
ALL ABOARD: A team of more than 100 paddleboarders rode into town to raise awareness of the sport - and £500 for the charity Stand Up To Cancer. The event, known as Santa SUP [Stand Up Paddleboard] has been going for 10 years and is organised by Jay Manning, aka J-Sup. This year’s run on the Medway also featured elves, The Grinch, a Christmas Tree, a lion and a turkey
Up close and personal: now the four candidates await their fate By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk CLOSE to 60,000 people across Tonbridge and Malling are expected to vote tomorrow [Thursday] to help decide who will form the next government. The parliamentary candidates will know their fate by around 4am on Friday morning. The four hopefuls converged on Tonbridge Baptist Church to face the voters at the Hustings last week, and responded to questions submitted by local residents and picked out of the hat in advance. It was to prove a revelatory evening, with the candidates revealing details of their lives that had not been seen in the leaflets dropped through letterboxes.
The incumbent, Tom Tugendhat of the Conservative Party, was in a combative mood, which was fitting since he frequently referred to his experiences in the Army - he was an intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
‘It took an hour before the ‘B word’ was mentioned in a question’ When asked what would be done to help children who have mental health issues, he admitted that after serving in Afghanistan, ‘I found it hard to come home’. There were two questions on mental health, and citing the example of Hillview School as a beacon of light, he said: “I’ve seen it done well. I’ve seen it
THE Government’s Planning Inspector has upheld a decision by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council [TMBC] to reject a large-scale development above Poundstretcher on the Vale Road roundabout. Developers wanted to add three storeys to the building to provide 10 flats. But the Inspector agreed with the Area 1 Planning Committee that this would ‘appear dominant in views from the south towards the High Street’. Matt Boughton, councillor for Medway ward and Vice-Chairman of the Committee, had also expressed concerns about pollution on the High Street.
Controversial
done badly too. Parity of esteem is just as important as parity of funding.” The Labour candidate Dylan Jones, standing for a second time in the borough, had revealed something of his role as a manager with the Royal Mail. On the issue of mental health he said: “Kent is in a far worse condition than others. When people come to me, as a manager I find it very difficult to access services for staff who are in crisis.” April Clark, the Green Party candidate, is also standing again and successfully gained a seat on the borough council in May’s local elections. She followed the personal theme when she decried the rising use of foodbanks, explaining her own background.
He greeted the decision and said: “Adding an extra three stories of flats above Poundstretcher would have been hugely detrimental to the views of the town from the whole of south Tonbridge. “The impact on air quality on the High Street is also significant and I am delighted the Inspector has agreed that this is a totally unsuitable plan which deserves to be rejected.” Another controversial plan has also been turned down by the Inspector in West Malling after Bellway applied to build up to 65 homes next to St Mary’s Abbey. The 11th century abbey was the first building constructed in the area, with the town growing around it to provide services. Tom Tugendhat, the MP for Tonbridge & Malling, asked the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to intervene and stop the
Continued on page 4
Continued on page 4