A call to arms?

The strife within the Conservative Party in Tunbridge Wells is not just a matter for private grief within Tory ranks but something which should concern all residents of Tunbridge Wells.  The future direction of the borough's economy and residents' well-being will be shaped by decisions taken by the Council. 

The Conservative Group on  the Council has ousted the Leader of the Council and the Conservative Association is mopping up areas of resistance by de-selecting sitting councillors.  One councillor has resigned in disgust.

At one level the strife within the Conservative Party has all the makings of a television soap, but there are serious underlying issues, the resolution of which will determine the long-term future of Royal Tunbridge Wells.

The new Leader of the Council  has not committed to full-throttle regeneration of the town centre.  Indeed, he has committed to nothing.  Being of a cynical nature, could it be that no commitment will be made until after the local elections in May?   The electorate has been given  no clues as to the direction the Conservatives intend to travel on the regeneration issue. Hardly satisfactory.

The only opposition to the Conservatives on the Council are the Liberal Democrats, ineffectual and unlikely to have a surge in support.  However, given the cynical way Liberal Democrats campaign, it would not surprise me if they ran on an anti regeneration ticket in order to garner votes.

One of the leading lights in the 'keep Tunbridge Wells as it is' brigade has taken to using the phrase our historic town centre. Historic? Are we speaking of a York or Bath? Hardly, then perhaps the civic complex built in the 1940s described by Pevsner thus:

Big and boring, a compromise between a neo-Georgian style and tamest form of expressionism. Even the materials, brown brick and stone, seem washed out.

My fear is that the current junta in the Town Hall will follow the line of least resistance and cave in to the Aspic Tendency.  The hope has to be that determined brave political leadership will lead to full-throttle regeneration, but I have my doubts.

What Tunbridge Wells needs badly is a new political force willing to take a campaign to the electorate and challenge the malaise in the town hall.  Is it too much to ask, in Tunbridge Wells of all places, that people come forward to stand as Independents?