N PE 0 O E2 W G O PA N EE S
Local, National and International
SS A
ER
Times
All the news that matters
BR
Wednesday October 12 | 2022
IE
OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Derelict for 22 years yet Council is still told to reject cinema site plans Objections threaten project that promises to end town’s ‘grot spot’ By Richard Williams and Lilly Croucher
Musical instruments Sheet music Instrument rentals Servicing & repairs Brittens Music School
Visit us at: Russell House, Grove Hill Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1RZ. Our shop is open: Tues – Fri 10.00am - 5.00pm Saturday 10.00am - 5.30pm Tel: (01892) 526659 www.brittensmusic.co.uk
THE Planning Committee at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) is to meet next month to decide the fate of the town’s most notorious plot of land. The former site of the ABC Cinema on Mount Pleasant Road has sat abandoned and derelict in the middle of town for more than 20 years, but a new proposal to turn it into a retirement village is due before Council planners in November.
REGENERATION The cinema site plans by RVG and [inset below] how the site has looked for the last two decades
The home of expert financial advice in Tunbridge Wells
Graveyard However, scores of objections to the project have now been lodged with the Council, with voices opposing the development including the Town Forum, the Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society and dozens of town centre residents. The site, which is above the train line to Tonbridge, has changed hands more than half a dozen times, and despite repeated promises to revitalise the 1.5-acre plot of land by each developer, it has remained empty since the cinema closed in 2000. The land has even been dubbed a ‘graveyard for developers’ by the Council’s Chief Executive after 22 years of failed projects.
‘Retirement living schemes like our proposals enable people over 65 to downsize and remain active’ The latest proposal is by Retirement Villages Group (RVG) – part of the same group that runs AXA Health, the town’s largest employer – who have submitted plans for a £72million later-living development. RVG claims that the project will boost
• Mortgages • Pensions • Business Loans the local economy of Tunbridge Wells by £1.5million a year and create up to 44 full-time jobs, as well as 187 construction jobs during the development. They also say the development will create a downsizing option for those over 65 that will release under-occupied and much-needed family homes back on to the market. Caroline Keiller, Development Manager at RVG, said: “Retirement living schemes like our proposals for Tunbridge Wells provide the solution and enable people over 65 to downsize and remain active members of their community. “Our experience and research demonstrates that this also benefits the local economy and community – as well as the residents of our schemes. “They remain close to their network of
• Foreign Exchange • Insurance family and friends, they make new friends, they get involved in local community activities, spend money in local shops and support local charities,” she explained. Since the planning application was submitted in August, scores of objections have flooded into the Council, most of which are opposed to the development – despite the abandoned land having been branded an eyesore by residents for the last 22 years.
Full story, page 6
• Wills • Financial Planning
Let’s talk 01892 280000 www.thefinancehub.money