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Tunbridge Wells News
Council decisions, crime, planning rows and community life in Tunbridge Wells - covered as it happens.
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74 total
Tunbridge Wells Council Raises Formal Concerns Over Sevenoaks' New Local Plan
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has flagged a newly added housing site at Broke Hill Golf Course that was never previously consulted on, and says the water company's own supply plan doesn't reflect the scale of growth Sevenoaks is now proposing. The comments are due to Sevenoaks by 17 September.
The Plan to Abolish West Kent's Four Councils Has Been Paused
The Government has paused its plan to scrap Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling and Maidstone councils and replace them with new unitary authorities by 2028, after new legal advice. Kent County Council had been due to consider suing the Government over the plan the very next day.
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.
Royal Victoria Place's Ely Court Plans Cleared to Progress After Listing Decision
Plans to redevelop Ely Court, part of the wider Royal Victoria Place transformation in Tunbridge Wells, can now move to the next stage after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport ruled that the former Friendly Societies Hall on Camden Road will not be listed.
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.
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.
Royal Victoria Place's Ely Court Plans Cleared to Progress After Listing Decision
The Friendly Societies Hall at 3-7 Camden Road, part of the site for Royal Victoria Place's proposed Ely Court redevelopment, will not be listed after all, clearing the way for the cinema-led plans to move into the planning process.
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.
Busiest Bank Holiday for UK Roads in 11 Years — But West Kent's Own Routes Are Clear This Morning
The RAC is predicting 20 million leisure trips over the last summer bank holiday of the year, the busiest since its records began in 2015 — but a live check of the roads that matter most to West Kent found nothing to report this morning, and today's forecast is milder and wetter than the national travel advice assumed.