LOCAL NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF
Last-ditch attempt to save town’s only bank A COUNCILLOR campaigning against the proposed closure of Lloyds Bank in Southborough is meeting the branch’s director this morning. Cllr Zulhash Uddin will be talking to Paul Meredith and warning the town will become a ‘banking desert’ if proposals to close by July 28 go ahead. He will also say the bank can expect a rebound in footfall once the new hub project is fully developed. Cllr Uddin has stepped up his campaign online by launching a petition on change.org.
The town’s dramatic changes draw closer
Social mobility initiative A SELECT Committee of nine cross-party county council members is putting forward 16 recommendations to help improve social mobility – by ensuring access for children from all financial backgrounds to grammar schools in Kent. The report comes after interviews with headteachers of both grammar and primary schools, parents, children in care and their foster carers, plus education experts.
Chilstone wins a prize STAFF at the Langton Green-based Chilstone stonework company are celebrating after the exhibit in which they were involved at the Chelsea Flower Show won a top award. BBC viewers and visitors voted their Meningitis Now garden the People’s Choice. The eye-catching stone temple centrepiece was donated by Chilstone.
Gun licence backlog KENT Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has released £39,000 of funding to speed up the backlog of firearms licences to be issued. Kent has approximately 27,000 firearms owners, including landowners, farmers and members of gun clubs. The backlog currently stands at nine months.
Volunteers needed THE Tunbridge Wells Churches Street Teams group are looking for volunteers to help serve soup and sandwiches to hungry people three nights a week. They can also provide sleeping bags, blankets and clothes to homeless and needy people. For more information visit: www.twstreetteams.org.uk
Back in chains… THE former Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Cllr David Elliott, has been elected Town Mayor of Southborough. He stepped down last month after his year in office as one mayor only to take on the role of another.
BIG PLAN A vision of the same view in the future
CURRENT VIEW Looking towards Calverley Grounds
By Adam Hignett
adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk A NEW civic centre in Tunbridge Wells came a step closer with the announcement yesterday [Tuesday] that a planning application could be submitted by November. The £12million scheme will see 50,000 sq ft of office space developed on the site of Mount Pleasant Avenue car park, which is currently leased by AXA, and is part of the council’s five-year plan to become a self-financing authority. The civic centre would free up the existing Town Hall building for possible use as a university campus. There are also plans to relocate the Assembly Hall Theatre to the Great Hall car park site, bringing the total cost to £50million. “With cutbacks to central government funding this council has to be in a position where we are self-sufficient. This either means we increase car park charges – which I don’t think many people will be pleased about – or we utilise our real estate,” explained Council Leader David Jukes. Plans to refurbish and upgrade the current Town Hall would cost around £10million, which the council does not believe to be cost-effective. However, the new complex will eventually pay for itself, as the council believes it can let out approximately 30,000 sq ft of the planned office space for around £750,000 a year. The council may also dig a new underground car park beneath the planned theatre providing income from 300 spaces. Recent progress has seen the development reach the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) project stage two, defined as the ‘concept design’ level.
RIBA recommends any planning application be submitted by the end of stage three, ‘Developed Design’, which the council expects to reach by November. Cllr Jukes said the project was likely to be largely funded through borrowing off the government’s Public Works Loan Board at what he described as ‘very favourable’ interest rates.
‘In the end we will be a very financially healthy organisation’ He added: “We will be paying it back over a very long period of time, but all we have to do is keep on top of the interest. “We can do this either by selling off some of our other properties or re-letting them, but as the value of the new complex increases it will also be adding to the value of our balance sheet. “In the end we will be a very financially healthy organisation.” Cllr Jukes also moved to quell fears over the fate of the current Town Hall, saying he ‘guaranteed’ it would not be pulled down, although he did not rule out some practical modifications to the large town centre complex. In addition he reiterated his desire to see it turned into a viable university campus, saying conversations on the subject were ongoing, adding: “This would be the ideal situation if it had a good commercial outcome as it would meet the aspirations of Tunbridge Wells.”
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Actor who worked alongside big name stars is jailed for robbery AN ACTOR from Tunbridge Wells who had a role alongside Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep in the 2015 film Suffragette, playing a policeman, has been jailed after a ‘truly frightening’ David Pentek robbery. David Pentek tied up a terrified 14-year-old boy and burgled his house. Pentek, who is also known as ‘Dodge’ and served in the army, was jailed for eight years after smashing a window and entering a house in Peasmarsh, East Sussex, while the teenager was home alone. The 41-year-old was wearing a black hoodie that partially covered his face when he entered the youngster’s bedroom. He ordered the boy, who later needed therapy, not to move while he stole jewellery, men’s aftershave and personal effects. Pentek is well known in Tunbridge Wells, having lived in the town for eight years before moving to St Leonard’s-on-Sea six months ago. He has two children by two different partners, all of whom still live in Tunbridge Wells. Detective Constable Dominic Brown said: “This incident was a truly frightening experience for the boy involved, who was left badly shaken but otherwise unhurt. “We’re pleased that the man responsible has been brought to justice and given a lengthy sentence for his crime.” Pentek, whose other roles include parts in The Northern Paradigm, Top Dog and a Vicks advert, pleaded guilty to robbery at Lewes Crown Court. He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170.
Helena Bonham Carter
Wednesday 1st June 2016