Issue - meetings

This is a regular item on the agenda of each Local Board meeting, and is an opportunity to ask questions to the Board about County Council services in the Tunbridge Wells Borough area.

Questions raised included:-

·              The current and protracted reorganisation process within Kent Highway Services. Mr Roger Manning as Chair of the Kent Highways Advisory Board, and David Hall as KCC’s Head of Transport and Development responded. The reorganisation had taken longer to progress than had been anticipated. The length of time involved had been bad for staff and organisational morale with employees “at risk” for extended periods.

·              Economic development in Southborough. Plans to develop a “Southborough Hub” remained in place, and KCC and TWBC were continuing discussions with a significant local landowner, to seek to move these forward.

·              KCC’s role in public transport planning. It was suggested that local communication and consultation had been poor in regard to the re-siting of local bus stops following the closure of the Hawkhurst bus station. Although at the meeting it was unclear what role KCC itself had played in this, David Hall agreed to respond to the Hawkhurst Parish Council on this issue outside of the Local Board meeting.

·              Funding for services for children and young people. Agreed that Tom Phillips would seek to ensure that a response was obtained to the question about this, from KCC’s Children, Families and Education Directorate.

·              KCC’s attitude to wind turbines. There was no single policy towards these, and any application to erect one would need to be considered on its individual merits and circumstances, and within the wider planning frameworks that affected all developments.