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Tonbridge News
Council decisions, crime, planning rows and community life in Tonbridge & Malling - covered as it happens.
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94 total
Petrol Prices Are Back at a Four-Year High - the Same Story That Started in West Kent Back in April
The national average price of petrol has hit its highest level since 2022, and diesel its highest since April, after a sharp rise in oil prices tied to the ongoing Middle East conflict. It's a continuation of the same spike we first reported on in West Kent five months ago - and this time a fuel duty rise is adding to it too.
Months Before the Stand-off, Tugendhat Told Ministers South East Water Couldn't Supply 13,000 of the Homes Required
Six months before it became a public stand-off, Tonbridge MP Tom Tugendhat stood up in Parliament and warned that there simply isn't enough water for the number of homes the Government wants built here - and the water company had already told the council so in writing.
Local Plan Consultation Opens as Tonbridge & Malling Leader Tells Minister the Intervention Was Unnecessary
Tonbridge and Malling's Regulation 19 Local Plan consultation has formally opened, but Council Leader Cllr Matt Boughton has written to Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook arguing the Government's order to proceed was unnecessary and risks producing a plan that can't actually be built.
Government Pauses Kent Council Shake-Up, Putting New West Kent Authority in Doubt
The government has paused and ordered a review of Local Government Reorganisation in Kent and Medway after new legal advice, throwing the timetable for a new West Kent unitary council - and the joint committee already being set up to prepare for it - into uncertainty.
Tonbridge's Outdoor Pool Is Staying Open All Winter Again - and Swimmers Couldn't Be Happier
Tonbridge Swimming Pool's outdoor pool will stay open right through to March for a second year, kept at 20-21°C, after more than 7,000 extra swims were logged last winter and regular swimmers said it transformed how they cope with the darker months.
Three West Kent Primaries Become Academies as New School Year Begins
Staplehurst School, St Francis' Catholic Primary in Maidstone and St Mark's CE Primary in Tunbridge Wells all converted to academy status on 1 September - each joining a different trust, in a reminder of how much of West Kent's primary sector has now moved out of direct council control.
Dragon Boats, Street Food and 400 Antique Stalls: West Kent's Busy Weekend
Crowds lined the River Medway for the Tonbridge Lions Dragon Boat Race and filled the town's Food & Drink Festival, while Maidstone hosted Kent's largest antiques fair and Edenbridge its motor show - a full weekend of events across West Kent in warm early-September weather.
Government Orders Tonbridge & Malling to Resume Local Plan It Voted to Pause
The Government has directed Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council to press ahead with the Regulation 19 consultation on its draft Local Plan, a day after Full Council voted to halt it over doubts about water supply. The consultation is now expected to open on 11 September.
Tonbridge & Malling Pauses Its Local Plan Over Water Supply Concerns
Full Council has halted the borough's draft Local Plan rather than sending it forward for its Regulation 19 consultation, after members raised concerns that there may not be enough water to support the housebuilding the Government expects Tonbridge and Malling to take.