Wednesday August 14 | 2019
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PHOTOS: John Coupe
‘Extreme alarm’ at pressure on roads and trains from housing
DANGER ZONE: A broken section of the fence that had already been repaired and another wreck close by, both on the same day
Demands for Highways England to explain Castle Hill black spot By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk A FATHER whose daughter regularly cycles to school in Tonbridge down the A21 has joined the voices calling for urgent action to be taken. A mysterious spate of accidents has seen cars crash through the fence which divides the dual carriageway from the adjacent pedestrian and cycle path. In the latest incident Subhash Pai, 38, from Tunbridge Wells was killed when his car skidded off the road and through the fence on the northbound carriageway at around 8am on July 27. John Coupe has called for a crash barrier to be put in place along the section of road near Castle Hill. His 14-year-old daughter uses the NMU [Not-Motorised User] route at least once a week to travel from Tunbridge Wells to Tonbridge Grammar School.
The civil engineer has also asked Highways England, who are responsible for the bypass, to look into the cause of the repeated crashes. The father of three is aware of at least eight accidents that have occurred along the same 200-metre stretch in the last nine months. Mr Coupe told the Times: “I first became aware of the ‘black spot’ last October.
‘They said they would organise a meeting. They have been slow to sort it out’ “I was driving past, and I saw a car had gone through the fence, across the cycle way and into the newly planted woodland beyond it. “Since then I have started noting whenever another hole appears in the fence, or when there’s an area of fence
THE TOWN’S commuter pressure group has warned that the plan to build almost 7,000 new homes in Paddock Wood and Tudeley will put the region’s transport infrastructure under intolerable strain. The concern of Tonbridge Line Commuters [TLC] comes amid ongoing issues with the running of the railways by Southeastern. Last week the Government scrapped the competition for renewal of the franchise, which will bring further ‘prolonged misery’ for passengers.
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that has been repaired recently.” “As a member of Tunbridge Wells Bicycle Users Group, I’ve been raising the issue with Highways England since last Christmas,” he said. “They said they would organise a meeting but they have been slow to sort it out.” Fran Long, Chair of the Tonbridge Bicycle Users Group, has now secured a meeting with Peter Phillips, Route Sponsor at Highways England. She will be joined by Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge & Malling, and the town’s representatives at Kent County Council, Richard Long and Michael Payne. Mr Tugendhat wrote to Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England’s Chief Executive, asking for details of a survey of the NMU. He said: “Clearly it’s important that this is resolved as soon as possible, and I understand that in May a road safety audit of the A21 NMU section took place.”
TLC has long warned that the creaking rail system requires urgent remedial action. The ‘garden town’ development in Capel parish, which would start a mile from the edge of Tonbridge, has heightened such fears. It has been is included in Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s draft Local Plan for the provision of 13,500 new houses by 2036. And the rail passengers’ campaign group is also predicting that the road network and the car parks that serve stations will not be able to cope with the additional volume of traffic. TLC Chairman John Reynolds said: “We are extremely alarmed by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s [TWBC] proposal to build 4,000 new homes in Paddock Wood and 2,800 in Tudeley. “The Kent Route Study has already stated that capacity on the railway is expected to become a serious issue by 2024.
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