Planning Application: Rusthall

In 2019  Inspector C Osgathorp on behalf of The Planning Inspectorate allowed an appeal against the decision of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) to refuse planning permission for a three-bedroom, three homes terrace on land adjoining the Red Lion Pub. 

The decision of C Osgathorp in full is on TWBC's website.


The original application had been opposed by local residents, Rusthall Parish Council, Kent County Council and TWBC on road safety grounds.

TWBC has received a planning application to change the proposed developed into a terrace of three four-bedroom houses.  Local residents have opposed the application on road safety grounds.

In the meantime the developer has started ground levelling and utilities work.  An access road has been driven into the site and the sight lines for traffic coming upon the junction are clear to see.  The worst fears of the protesters look like being realised.  Remember the name: C. Osgathorp.

Election fever in Rusthall

The election for the vacant Tunbridge Wells Borough Council seat in Rusthall is being contested by four parties:  Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and UKIP.  Until recently UKIP held both seats in Rusthall, once gaining a seat from the incumbent Tory Council Leader, but lost them.  This time I have not seen any election communication.

The Tories have delivered two leaflets.  Labour and the Lib Dems distributed election leaflets and the day before the election both parties delivered 'last minute' leaflets.


Labour and the Lib Dems both claim that they are the party to vote for to oust the Tories!  Never mind what the parties policies are, vote for us to keep out someone else is the childish message.

Rusthall 20mph zone

Aided and abetted by our unnecessary and useless parish council  a few local residents have taken it into their heads that it would be a GOOD IDEA to have a 20mph zone in the village.  Never mind that the evidence indicates that the effect of such measures is nil.  Never let facts get in the way of a feel-good campaign.  I have not seen any indication of the cost of signs, enforcement, humps and chicanes from either the parish council or the campaigners.

Overpowering 'music' at Rusthall Fireworks

Most enjoyable firework display this year.  Only downside music blasting out from the loudspeakers used for public address.  So loud one could hardly hear the bangs from the fireworks!

Pedestrian hit by van in Rusthall

Recently an elderly man was hit by a van on Rusthall High Street and died from the injuries he sustained. Such are the bare facts of another tragic death on the roads of this country.  Eventually blame for the accident and death will be apportioned.

The 'something must be done' brigade has surfaced and doubtless will be bombarding us with 'solutions' to the traffic problems on the High Street.

A nasty surprise in Rusthall

Last Sunday I walked up to the High Street in Rusthall to buy a newspaper.  Purchase completed I rounded the corner into Meadow Road and was confronted by the sight of two traffic wardens. It was 8.00AM and the wardens were busy issuing 'tickets' to cars parked partly on double yellow lines.  I bet a few people had a nasty surprise later that morning.

On the buses

Used my bus pass today to travel to Sevenoaks for a meeting.  All the buses on time. The bus station in Sevenoaks more convenient by far than the railway station.  The only problem: my meeting finished at 3.15pm and there is no return bus until 4.16pm.  Over an hour's gap in the service (3.08pm to 4.16pm) which is rather strange given that for most of the day there are two buses an hour and a notice  at the Sevenoaks bus station refers to a half-hourly service.

Hopefully Cllr Jukes will get his comeuppance over his plans to ban buses in the centre of Royal Tunbridge Wells.  Last time buses were diverted bus timetables were turned into works of fiction. I look forward to our two Conservative councillors in Rusthall putting the skids under the Jukes folly.

Charmless letter from Richard Benoy

Last Friday the Courier published a letter from Richard Benoy in which he attacked former UKIP borough councillor for Rusthall, Piers Wauchope.  Fair comment much of it but Mr Benoy would do well to remember that Mr Wauchope replaced Bob Atwood at the behest of the electorate. You cannot blame Mr Wauchope: blame the electorate.

The final paragraph of Mr Benoy's letter:

I must congratulate you, Piers, for getting your photo in with your goodbye letter.  I think most of the people who voted for you  had forgotten what you look like.

Well, I have news for Mr Benoy.  I haven't a clue what you look like and I am a Rusthall voter.  Mr Benoy was co-opted onto Rusthall Parish Council in 2011 and has been returned in 2015 in an uncontested election.  At least Mr Wauchope ran the gauntlet of the electorate.

Mr Wauchope did not communicate well with the electorate.  However I doubt the parish councillors have much to communicate to the people of Rusthall, apart from a whopping 8% increase in the parish precept.

Rusthall's Councillors

On 29 January I noted that the two Rusthall councillors on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council are contesting parliamentary constituencies at the general election on behalf of UKIP.  One of the councillors, Piers Wauchope, has resigned so there will be two seats up for grabs in May.  The other seat is held by Victor Webb.  His period of office ends this year.  Will he be contesting a Rusthall seat as well as the parliamentary constituency of Derby South?

Rusthall Parish Council

This year is election year for Rusthall Parish Council.  Will  retiring councillors stand for re-election?  Will new people enter the hustings?

Some of the candidates in 2011 were keen to re-open the public lavatories.  That idea has gone down the pan.  What has the Council achieved?  Are the achievements worth the cost of running the Council?

Rusthall's councillors

Rusthall is represented on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council by two UKIP councillors.  One is due to retire this year and has been selected to contest Derby South at the general election.  Will he be contesting the council seat?

The other councillor has been selected to contest Thanet North.  It is rumoured he has moved to the constituency.  Will he be continuing as a councillor?  His attendance record at TWBC meetings in 2014 was 40%.

Rusthall Community and Youth Project

Pleased to see the November minutes of the parish council on-line.  Keep up the good work.

One of the items discussed at the November meeting was the withdrawal of funding by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for Rusthall Community and Youth Project and a request by the Project for the parish council to provide funding.  The matter was deferred for further analysis of the Project's costs.

I hope the parish council does support the Project.  It has been running for many years and at least two of the parish councillors have been trustees/officers. The leader of the Project, Mike Bassett, was awarded a Civic Medallion by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in recognition of his sterling service to the Project.

Kent County Council's version of localism

The Conservative Party has proclaimed the virtues of community engagement, community involvement and community action wrapping it up in the concept of 'localism' which in turn is part of the Big Society agenda.  One of the leading proponents of localism is Greg Clark the MP for Tunbridge Wells.

The theory looks good, however turning theory into reality is somewhat more difficult. Step forward Kent County Council, under the kosh for its poor showing in the primary school performance league tables. The Council is responsible for youth services and as part of its budget reduction measures has decided to reduce funding for the youth service and moved away from a grants process to a commissioning process.

Kent County Council's commissioners rightly are looking for value for money but in so doing are able to influence the way in which the voluntary sector works, by encouraging mergers to reduce administrative costs and by reducing the number of organisations it has to engage with.  Money talks, so the voluntary sector is controlled by the policies and decisions taken in County Hall.

A stark example of this is what has happened in Tunbridge Wells.  Two organisations have fallen foul of the new commissioning regime and their future work, indeed the very future of the organisations now is in some doubt.  At this point I declare an interest: I have been the chairman of both of the organisations, although my  involvement ceased a few years ago.

One organisation, Number One Community Trust,  put in a bid for funding, was unsuccessful and has been left high and dry.  The other, Rusthall Community and Youth project, was put off applying by the 107 pages long notes for guidance.

Both organisations feel aggrieved  that funding has been awarded to an organisation based in Ashford which will provide a mobile bus to service youth provision in the areas covered by the two organisations.  The real worry is that the cuts in funding could lead to the demise eventually of both organisations, each rooted in and supported by the communities they serve.  It makes a mockery of localism and reinforces my belief that when it comes to budgets statutory authorities  (with a few exceptions) know the price of everything and the value of nothing,.

Rusthall Fireworks (2)

The wind eased off and it was almost a clear sky for the annual Rusthall bonfire and fireworks display.  An excellent display which had some features I had not seen before.

Congratulations to the organising committee, not only for the bonfire and the display, but also for organising the volunteers to marshal road closures as a consequence of the decision of Kent police not to provide officers to police traffic during the torchlight procession.  The use of barriers for the first time to close roads worked very well.

I spied the chairman of the parish council and one of our borough councillors working to ensure public safety.  Well done.

Rusthall Fireworks

No, not a meeting of the Parish Council.

The annual fireworks display is this Saturday, 27th October.  Not sure when the display commences, but be there from just before 7.00PM and soak up the atmosphere.  There will be the usual procession round the village prior to the display.

Red Lion comes up trumps!

Well done.  The pub's karaoke evening passed without incident, by which I mean that the  landlord took the necessary steps to minimise noise.  Keep up the good work.

Soon, the darts 'star' John Lowe is coming to the Red Lion, Rusthall to play a few matches, proceeds to the local hospice.  John is a Derbyshire man and lived but a couple of miles from me. He visited my 'local', The Bridge Inn, Hollis Lane, Chesterfield.     Goodness me, it is over 23 years since I was in the pub.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Rusthall's closed toilets

It is some years now since Tunbridge Wells Borough Council closed the public toilets in Rusthall.  At the parish council elections in 2011 some of the candidates promised, if elected, to see what could be done to to-open them.

Here we are, seventeen months later, the toilet block is in a sad condition, Rusthall's premier grot-spot.

The parish council should either re-open the toilets or demand that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council demolish the block.

Where I live

I live in the parish of Rusthall, to the west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and in the administrative area of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.  I commend the link to a website packed with information and photographs.

http://www.crescentmoonweb.co.uk/rusthall/page1.htm

Rusthall Matters

The local press has an item on Rusthall Club, in which it is named as Rusthall Working Men's Club.  Has the name been changed back to its original form or is it simply habit?

A few weeks ago I commented on the financial insecurity of the club:

http://kentcommunityactivist.blogspot.com/2011/10/use-it-close-it-lose-it.html

Now, a fresh face has joined the committee following the Club's AGM and has set about making a number of changes.  I wish her well.

Many years ago I attended the AGM of a club in my home town and by the end of the meeting I was treasurer and had the power to do what I wished, from raising bar prices to closing the club.  The first thing I did was to raise bar prices by 15%.  Howls of protest, but things soon settled down.  The previous club management had paid cash to casual staff, without any supporting paperwork.  A visit from the Inland Revenue to review the paperwork for the previous six years landed the club with a hefty bill.

To overcome this body blow one of our members organised an event which proved to be a godsend financially.  Advertised as The Alternative Tupperware Party, the event was held in the function room and drew a huge crowd of heavy drinkers, drawn mostly from the town's professionals who could afford the very steep admission price. The 'star' turn was Dickie Pleasant, The Pheasant Plucker and his retinue of  female strippers.  It was a wild night of filthy jokes and women stripping, almost but not quite, to the bare buff.

Somehow, I cannot see a similar event being held at the Rusthall Club.

Being delivered in the ward I live in.

The opening shot for next May's elections?

http://issuu.com/andrewkennedy/docs/a4_in_touch_rusthall_1_?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage