2 � NEWS
WEATHER THE WEEK IN VIEW
WEDNESDAY
WET, WINDY WITH SOME SUNNY SPELLS MAY 6 2015
TUNBRIDGE WELLS
12 C O
Pollution: low Sunrise: 05.24am
Visibility: very good Humidity: 56% Wind: 54 Sunset: 20.28pm
THURSDAY
13OC
FRIDAY
13OC
SATURDAY
13OC
SUNDAY
14OC
MONDAY
16OC
TUESDAY
16 C O
CONTACTS EDITOR SIMON FINLAY simon@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 576042 DEPUTY EDITOR ELEANOR JONES eleanor@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 576037 HEAD OF SALES JOE STONER joe@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 779624 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR RICHARD MOORE richard@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 779615 GENERAL INQUIRIES newsdesk@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk
Rotary Club treasure hunt back this year MAPS and thinking caps at the ready – the Rotary Club treasure hunt is to return to Tunbridge Wells this summer. Following the success of a similar event last year, the Pantiles branch is running a ‘bigger and better version’, on Friday, June 5 from 6pm. The hunt, in aid of local good causes, will involve teams of up to four people solving 20 cryptic clues against the clock, in the town centre and on The Pantiles. Organiser Ian Steadman, of the Rotary Club of The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, said: “It’s energetic fun. “I did it with a broken leg last year and still thoroughly enjoyed it.” The hunt will start and end at a pub or restaurant on The Pantiles, where a buffet, cash bar and entertainment including a boules game will be on offer afterwards, as
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QUOTE UNQUOTE
“Tomfool issues, barmy ideas, a kind of ageing, perennial youth which immatures with age” Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson on party colleague Tony Benn
Wednesday 6th May 2015
well as a raffle and the prizegiving. Mr Steadman added: “There will be plenty for people to do, it’s a good networking and promotional activity for companies and it’s
in aid of local charities.” To register an interest or for more information, email Ian Steadman, ian@bsrb.co.uk
Give over-65s ‘right-sizing’ tax exemption, says Saga HOME owners over the age of 65 in Tunbridge Wells should be given a oneoff stamp duty exemption if they wish to downsize to a smaller property, according to a report published by Kent-based Saga. Many older residents are put off by the cost of moving, often because the home has grown too large for their needs, says the over 50s services provider. A report published by Saga in the run-up to tomorrow’s general election claims that seven in ten over 50s would like to ‘right size’ in retirement but many feel the current housing stock is not aimed at them. The content for A Manifesto for Britain’s over 50s was gleaned from Saga’s regular polling of 10,000 customers, feedback from saga Magazine readers and input from the respected independent think tank, the
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ENERGETIC FUN Participants in last year’s event
Centre for Economic and Business Research. Saga communications director Paul Green, who lives in Horsmonden, said: “If you support last time buyers, you create more houses for people to live in “There are some people who would like to move but are put off by the cost of moving and this is as true for Tunbridge Wells as anywhere, perhaps more so. “There is a high percentage of home owners in the area and a stamp duty
exemption could remove this disincentive if, say, over 65s could have one stamp duty-free move if they right size.” Green Party spokesman Marie Jones, who is standing in the general election, said: “If there was an exemption for last-time buyers making that last move it would take money from the government to invest in future generations in schools and the like.” The Saga document states: “While on the face of it, this sounds like a tax loss to the exchequer, it need not be the case. “In instances where the stamp duty holiday would lead to a house sale that otherwise would not have taken place, the exchequer actually benefits from increased stamp duty and this is likely to stimulate both the housing market and the industries associated with it.”
EDITOR’S COMMENT TOMORROW is the general election and the poll for a fair clutch of borough and parish council seats. As is the case with many prosperous areas in the United Kingdom, Tunbridge Wells retains a huge support for the Conservative Party. There is little to suggest at this election there will be any real change in voting habits this time around. Greg Clark will almost certainly be the MP and the borough council will be controlled by the Tories. It will be interesting to see how the Liberal Democrats fare, given their state nationally, and if the Green Party turns out to be the beneficiary. The parliamentary candidate Marie Jones has fought a canny campaign and she may get the chance at something more winnable in the future. One would certainly hope so. The same can be said of James MacCleary, a slick and articulate representative of the Liberal Democrats.
There have been few shocks or controversies in the Westminster campaign, although all the candidates deserve credit for doing their best to engage with the electorate and put forward their cases. Unlike the outgoing MP Greg Clark, most have jobs or full-time commitments on their time and have done an admirable job in reaching out to people while running an election campaign. Ukip is expected to do quite well locally, if the polls are to be believed. Nigel Farage’s party may come second to Greg Clark, the Tory, and may pick up some council seats. Nationally, one fancies this election will be disappointing for Ukip. When the big guns start firing, the antiEU party starts to realise how puny its peashooter is. And how nasty the other mainstream outfits can be. If Ukip is to really take hold in this and other areas in Kent – whatever the results are on May 7 – its members will have to work hard
in local community politics, serve their terms productively and earn their spurs with the electorate. Most of all they cannot embarrass their party with questionable behaviour or intemperate language. It is extraordinary how the political establishment which yowls ‘racist’ at Ukip is the same one which does deals with Sinn Fein, whose terrorist wing bombed, shot, maimed, dismembered, tortured, widowed and orphaned thousands during the Northern Irish Troubles. Sometimes only a coded warning stood between the innocent and oblivion. Now the leaders are feted, international statesmen. There is no hypocrisy like political hypocrisy. Now more than ever, do we need to get out and vote. No one can have any complaint about who they end up with if they have not exercised their democratic right. Simon Finlay, editor