Wednesday June 27 | 2018
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KCC Leader says ‘no malice’ in comments about part-time staff
GLORY AND TORIES
Baroness Tanni’s inspiration at the Old Fire Station Page 2
By William Mata THE Leader of Kent County Council [KCC] Paul Carter, has emailed his 10,000 staff apologising for comments he made about part-time workers. He suggested they ‘prioritise their families’ rather than their jobs’. The remark was condemned as ‘sex discrimination’. Cllr Carter made the comments at a meeting of KCC’s Personnel Committee last week after productivity statistics showed that 28 per cent of part-time staff ‘exceeded expectations’ for work targets compared to 42 per cent of full-time staff.
Priorities “Their priorities are different from their jobs because their primary role is to make sure that their family is right and appropriate,” said Cllr Carter. “I’m sure [parents] are amazingly efficient with their time with having to drop your child off at childcare then get back for a certain time. “Then they [the childcare facility] ring up and say that your child is not terribly well and they are a bit concerned about it. You are bound to get a diversion away from work, it is human nature.” Cllr Carter has faced a backlash after his views were reported. Dr Amanda Turner, of the Women’s Equality Party’s Tunbridge Wells branch, said: “We are shocked by Cllr Carter’s comments.”
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SHIPBOURNE CHEFS Famous father and son dish up feast for market Page 6
THE HIGH LIFE: One of the most iconic buildings in the southeast of England, Hadlow Tower, has been put up for sale. Turn to page 2
Town braced for more congestion as railway station upgrade starts By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk THE town is set to endure more traffic chaos as work begins to improve the area around the railway station. The renovation by Kent County Council [KCC] will begin on July 25 and continue until the autumn, though the most disruptive part will be finished by the end of the school holidays. The area is already heavily congested as it copes with High Street traffic, commuters using the county’s busiest rail hub and the massed ranks of schoolchildren congregating around the bus stops. A scheme to widen the pavements outside Lidl supermarket on Quarry Hill Road means buses will now stop in the road where before they used laybys.
But planners insist this will not affect motorists coming from the Pembury Road roundabout – in an area which is regularly beseiged by traffic jams. Another KCC infrastructure project, to redesign the High Street in 2015-16, has drawn consistent criticism for causing delays for traffic going through the town
‘We will have to monitor this as, if buses double-park, there would be a problem’ because of buses stopping on the carriageway instead of the newly built laybys – which are used for delivery lorries. KCC say the station upgrade is being carried out to encourage people to use ‘environmentally friendly types of travel’. The bus stop outside Lidl will be
extended to fit three buses without blocking traffic. Cllr Richard Long, Tonbridge’s representative at County Hall, was confident that there would be no added disruption from the new format. He said: “The pavement is to be widened to improve safety and convenience for pedestrians, but this does not mean buses will obstruct the carriageway. “The north and southbound carriageways will be realigned using space now in the centre of the road so that two-way traffic can use the road even when buses are parked up. “But we will have to monitor this as, if buses double-park, there would be a problem. The bus companies have been asked to ensure this does not happen.”
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LAUGHING MATTERS
Stand-up comedians are busy helping our schools Page 23
PRAISE FOR ANGELS
Awards for community plans and programmes Page 87