Times
All the news that matters
Local, National and International
OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS
From EASTENDERS and CALL THE MIDWIFE
UR E ER YO E AP FR L P CA LO
Wednesday December 7 | 2022
Assembly Hall Theatre | Tunbridge Wells
CLIFF PARISI
SAT 10 — SAT 31 DEC assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk Pictures: Pam Laker and Georgina Edwards Photography
Radio host signs up for Times Business Awards Auctioneers Since 1929
A Winter Full of Wonder
GUEST Journalist and radio presenter Nick Ferrari (pictured) is set to host next year’s Times Business Awards. Full story page 7.
At Gorringe’s, our expertise extends across Fine Art, Antiques, Furniture, Ceramics, Glass, Jewellery and more.
gorringes.co.uk See our Latest Collectables
MP quizzes Council over its use of government’s levelling-up money By Richard Williams GREG Clark has written to the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) over its use of government funding earmarked for ‘levelling-up’ rural areas. The Council has been allocated £443,604 to be spread over the next two years from the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF). The fund, which is part of the government’s levelling-up agenda, is meant to be earmarked to provide support for rural businesses. But it has emerged that a quarter of the fund (£110,901) from the first tranche of payments sent to TWBC is set to be diverted to the Council itself so it can pay
for its own cost overruns at the Weald Sports Centre in Cranbrook. The leisure centre is undergoing ‘decarbonisation’ to reduce its environmental impact with the installation of solar panels, air source heat pumps, LED lights and an energy management system.
Shortfall Separate government grant funding of £1.1million has already been allocated to this project, but higher than expected charges from UK Power Networks have led to a cost overrun of more than £330,000. To help pay for the shortfall, the
Council has committed to taking extra money from its capital budget, as well as an interest-free government loan provided by public sector finance organisation Salix. But to help bridge the gap, TWBC also committed to investing the first tranche from the Rural England Prosperity Fund into the project. Greg Clark says the fund was not aimed at bailing out Councils and should not have been used to shore up overspend for the Weald Sports Centre. Mr Clark wrote to the Council to ask why it was spent on an existing project. The Tunbridge Wells MP, who temporarily
Continued on page 2
Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells
SAT 10 – SAT 31 DEC assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk AssemblyHallTheatre AssemblyHallTheatre ahttw