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NEWS
Local News
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Wednesday July 3 | 2019
FOODBANK BENEFACTORS: Continued from page 1
TOWN’S LACK OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS CAUSING HUNGER
POTENTIAL MONEY-SPINNER: Revival of science and business park idea near A21 could provide as many as 4,500 jobs. page 8 SPILL THE BEANS: New festival, Out of the Box, centres on coffee and is to be held at Tonbridge Castle this July. page 12
GOOD SAMARITANS Childrensalon CEO Michele Harriman-Smith and her husband George Denise Hamilton, from the leadership team at Childrensalon said they are only too happy to support such a ‘vital and life changing’ service. She said: “Working with vulnerable members of our commu-
nity, many who are not mobile either through illness, age or other heart-breaking circumstances, Nourish provides a lifeline delivering vital food supplies to the client’s door with a smile thanks to Nourish’s caring team.”
An eight-strong team from the Guinea Smokehouse and Taproom in Tunbridge Wells has just raised more than £850 for Nourish by climbing the Three Peaks. Full story see page 11.
COUNCIL PARKING CHARGES: Continued from page 1
STRIVING FOR PEACE: Students and Amnesty Youth Members visited the Houses of Parliament to put forward their concerns. page 16
PASSION FOR PAINTING: Former St Gregory’s pupil Michael Shepherd speaks of being picked for Portrait Artist of the Year 2019. page 46 CONTACTS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR RICHARD MOORE richard@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 779615 DEPUTY EDITOR EILEEN LEAHY eileen@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 576037 CHIEF REPORTER RICHARD WILLIAMS richardwilliams@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk | 01892 240626 DESIGN/PRODUCTION LEE SMITH lsmith8@markerstudy.com SALES ENQUIRIES GHak@onemediauk.co.uk | 01892 779650 FIND US ONLINE facebook.com/timeslocalnews timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk twitter.com/timeslocalnews
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in the RAC figures. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said of the figures: “It would be no surprise at all if English councils soon breached the one billion-pound mark for the amount they make annually from parking, which is quite a windfall from a service that is intended to be all about managing traffic. “Not every authority makes big money, some even run at loss, but where authorities are making money drivers might reasonably hope that some finds its way specifically into tackling road repairs not just on transport more generally.” Rival motoring group, the AA, said councils are now dependent on the money made from parking to pay for local services following central
government cuts, but it has a direct effect on retail. Luke Bosdet, spokesman for the AA, warned: “It compounds the misery of the high street. “Both of the Tory leadership contenders are saying they want to revive the high street – but good luck with that if councils are hell-bent on making as much money as they can from visitors driving into the town centre.” Indeed, over the border in East Sussex, the county council is holding public consultation on parking charges, as it wants to double prices in places such as Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings, but critics warn that this could be damaging for the high street. “Hiking up parking charges may
A BOROUGH councillor who has spent years working to support Dawn and her team at Nourish, says one of the main reasons people in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge suffer food poverty is due to the high cost of housing. Labour Southborough & High Brooms councillor, Dianne Hill, said: “The lack of social housing is forcing people in the borough into private accommodation where rent costs are so high. “If you are on a low income and you are paying £12,000 a year I rent, there is very little going to be left. She added that thankfully, things are beginning to change and social housing is coming more to the fore in planning decisions. “The borough is starting to realise that ‘affordable housing’ is not affordable in the area,” said Cllr Hill. She added that recent mergers between housing associations means that the borough could soon be on the receiving end of 300 social houses each year.
bring in extra revenue in the short-term but it will be a nail in the coffin of the High Street. It could go into cardiac arrest,” said Alex Schlagman, of campaign group SaveTheHighStreet.org.
‘Councils are hell-bent on making as much money as they can from visitors’ For Tunbridge Wells, parking is among the highest income streams for the council and is used to pay for the services provided by the borough. Parking in the town centre does remain competitive with other Kent towns. Two hours parking at Royal Victoria Place costs £2.80 at the pay & display machine compared to
£2.30 at Tonbridge’s Angel car park, and £2.70 at Maidstone’s Fremlin Walk. And town centre manager from Royal Tunbridge Wells Together, Karen Pengelly, believes the council are getting the balance just right. She said: “Parking is a contentious issue in every town. There has to be a balance and there has to be restrictions, but obviously we want these restrictions to be as light as possible. We still have free on street parking in the town centre, which is rare these days.” She added that RTW Together has run analysis on parking charges across the South East. “We looked at like for like town centres, so similar towns to ours, and when you look at the figures, Tunbridge Wells did come out as very cost effective,” she concluded.
Licensing warning after Uber is spotted in Tunbridge Wells By Holly Stafford and Felix van Oordt THE council has warned members of the public not to get into unlicensed taxis after Ubers were reported to be operating in Tunbridge Wells. Uber, the app-based taxi operator that lets you book taxis on your mobile phone, is not licensed to operate in the town, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council [TWBC] has warned. The council say they have received reports of Ubers operating illegally in the area, and want to make clear the taxi-app company is not licensed to operate in the town.
Boundaries Councillor Bob Backhouse, chair of the licensing committee added: “Uber is not licensed in the borough and has not made an application to the council’s licensing service. “There is a clear safety message here and that is that taxi and private hire users should make sure they only use licensed vehicles.” Uber was founded in 2009 and arrived in the UK in 2012 but not without controversy. The company has fought off allegations of sexual harassment which led to the ride-hailing app being stripped of its operating licence in London in 2017. This ban was, however, overturned last year. It currently operates in around 40 towns and cities across the UK, but Tunbridge Wells is not
one of them. Licensed taxi drivers in Tunbridge Wells said if Uber were allowed to operate in the borough, it could lead to a number of licensed taxi drivers going out of business. Chairman of Tunbridge Wells Hackney Carriages, Shujaullah Baraki said: “Nobody should get in a taxi that is unlicensed, and if Uber were allowed to operate here they would not be good for the taxi business. “I am against Uber coming to Tunbridge Wells, as are a lot of taxi drivers as it will lose us our jobs.” He said taxi operators in the borough have to pay around £360 a year for a taxi licence and £370 for a badge, along with other required
payments such as DVLA and criminal record checks, a MOT every six months, and medical examinations. Uber said they have recently taken measures that should prevent drivers from operating across boundaries. A spokesperson for the Sanf Francisco app company said: “We recognise there have been concerns about private hire journeys crossing jurisdictional boundaries. “Last year we introduced changes that means drivers are only able to use our app within the region where they are licensed as a private hire driver. “We continue to work closely with local councils on this issue.”