Wednesday January 17 | 2018
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STEEP RISE IN STATION’S CAR PARK CHARGES Pages 4-5
WHERE TO BE GIN? CELEBRATING GIN-UARY Pages 52-53
25TH BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR ICONIC MUSIC VENUE Pages 66-67
FOUR WINS ON THE BOUNCE FOR TJS Page 70
Cuts to bus services are scrapped after last-minute U-turn By William Mata BUS services in Tonbridge will not be slashed after Kent County Council [KCC] discovered it will receive more funding from central government. A consultation into the proposals was due to start tomorrow [Thursday] but KCC announced it would not take the plan forward two days before it began. The local authority was set to recover £2.25million a year by ending subsidies to 78 services overall, included 23 in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge. But after the reductions in government grants turned out to be less than feared, KCC have found that they only needed to budget for £450,000.
‘Smarter’ Council Leader Paul Carter said there is no longer a need for the subsidies to end. Instead, KCC has b udgeted £500,000 for ‘conversations’ about the bus routes with parish councils and c ommunity groups. “We believe that there are smarter, more responsive ways to deliver these bus services,” said Cllr Carter. “We intend to arrange a whole series of big conversations with parish councils and communities on how this can be delivered.” The planned cuts particularly affected villages and provoked a public outcry after they were unveiled in the autumn. Cllr Carter also apologised for the ‘premature’ release of the routes facing cancellation. The fallout saw Cllr Matthew Balfour, the Cabinet Member for Transport, lose his job last week.
TAKE OFF Passenger numbers at Gatwick have increased by 22 per cent in five years
Gatwick protesters hail impact of MP’s Parliament debate about aircraft noise By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk CAMPAIGNERS have greeted the passionate debate about aircraft noise pollution set up by Tom Tugendhat in the House of Commons as a muchneeded step in the right direction. The Conservative MP for Tonbridge & Malling led a fierce attack on the Department for Transport in Parliament last week, calling on them to do more to reduce the noise caused by planes using Gatwick airport. Mr Tugendhat lamented the plight of his ‘constituents in Tonbridge, Edenbridge and surrounding villages who have been plagued by aircraft noise for a number of years’. Martin Barraud of Gatwick Obviously Not! (GON) attended the debate in the
gallery and the Penshurst action group was name-checked by the MP. Mr Barraud said: “You’ve got these MPs all singing as one. I thought there was tremendous strength of feeling among them.
‘I’m concerned that as Gatwick grows, not enough is being done to reduce noise’ “Our chagrin is that there doesn’t seem to be anyone making the airports change. Why is it that people like me have to make the Government do the right thing? “It shouldn’t come down to community groups to enforce the law,” he added.
“We need to have a change at the top to have any real change.” Irene Fairbairn of Tunbridge Wells Anti-Aircraft Noise Group (TWAANG) said: “This is a very important national as well as local issue. “Tom Tugendhat is courageously calling Government to account on behalf of his heavily overflown constituency. His arguments were well made and it is encouraging to see that his views were well supported by other local MPs.” Mr Tugendhat pointed out that while there was a lack of action at the highest levels, the amount of traffic into the Sussex hub was increasing, and nothing was being done to keep the noise at existing levels, let alone reduce it. Afterwards he said: “For five years we have had to endure constant noise and
this is harming the economic prosperity and environmental sustainability of our area. “I’m particularly concerned that as Gatwick grows, not enough is being done to reduce noise, despite this being the clear aim of the government policy.” The protest movement has been infuriated by a letter they received from Baroness Sugg, the minister in charge of aviation, last month that said community groups should be responsible for putting pressure on the airport. She was referring to a body called the Noise Management Board (NMB), consisting of stakeholders from all sides including the airport’s chiefs, Government representatives and councillors as well as protest groups.
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