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Wednesday January 5 | 2022
New Year marks a new start for town ABC Cinema site development is just one of several exciting projects scheduled for 2022
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By Richard Williams THE start of 2022 has brought with it good news, despite the current uncertainties of Covid-19. Over the festive period, timeslocalnews.co.uk broke the story that the much-maligned ABC Cinema site has changed hands again, but this time it has the backing of AXA group – the large insurer that is the biggest employer in Tunbridge Wells.
Described The news came after the CEO of AXA Health, Tracy Garrad, who employs around 2,000 people in the town, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to the town after the insurer put two of their office blocks up for sale last year. Now, a subsidiary of AXA, Retirement Villages Group (RVG), intends to develop the land at the top of Mount
Pleasant Road into a new retirement community. The site which has been described as a ‘graveyard for developers’, has been derelict for more than 20 years. RVG is proposing to develop between 150-180 apartments, alongside a café, restaurant and wellness facilities available to both residents and the public. Deputy Leader of the Council, David Scott, who is also in charge of economic development in the town, told the Times: “We have been working with them for quite some time on this and they have done a thorough job. “They have the money and the backing from AXA, and it is a more workable plan than previous proposals with less expensive apartments.” But he warned the project could be blocked by the Council’s planning committee, which he says has become increasingly ‘political’ (full story page 4).
Another of the town’s leading employers has also announced this week that it is to take over a top insurance group in a deal that could eventually be worth half a billion pounds, showing that some local employers are going from strength to strength.
Exciting Markerstudy, which founded Elite Leisure Collection (ELC) which owns One Media, the publisher of the Times, has announced a £400million takeover of BGL Insurance (BGLi) the insurance arm of the group behind Comparethemarket.com. It comes just two years after Markerstudy became the UK’s sixth-largest motor insurer with the acquisition of Co-op Insurance’s underwriting business, which it bought for £185million (see page 2).
A number of other exciting things are also in the works in Tunbridge Wells for 2022. In the Spring, the long-awaited Amelia Scott will open to the public. The £20million mixed-use cultural hub, art gallery and museum has unanimous support at the Council from all political parties and is set to be a popular asset to the town. Work is also set to begin this year on the conversion of the Town Hall into a collaborative office space. The building is in need of repair and refurbishment and is far too large for the council’s needs. Councillors behind the scheme say it should be finished by the end of the year. The Times will also have news on another exciting multi-million pound development that is set to revitalise the town centre in the coming weeks, so watch this space…