Is Tonbridge bursting at the seams?

The new Courier reporter, Frank Foster, is understandably trying to make his mark on the paper. He is the replacement for Shams Al-Shakarchi who, as a young reporter for around three years, served Tonbridge well. Let's hope that Frank does the job as conscientiously as Shams appeared to and good luck to him. Frank has been phoning around town centre businesses to get a feel for what they think about the new developments in the town centre. Most of these are along the riverside which, after last winter's flooding, brings its own problems, but what about the sheer number of homes being crammed into what is after all quite a small town centre. There's the Medway Wharf area, Botany, next to Waitrose, Cannon Lane and more; blocks of flats seem to be springing up at an increasing rate. Is it better to build here or might it be better to expand a little into the countryside? Will the town centre schools be able to cope? Slade school is expanding with a new classroom and soon a new block but will the other local schools feel the pressure? Will there be enough parking for the inevitable increase in traffic or can people be educated to do without cars and instead walk, cycle or use public transport. For my money I should have thought that it's better to make use of these so-called brown field sites along the river than to leave them, as they were when I moved to the town, as derelict warehouses and factories. Take a look in the Courier on Friday for more on this and sorry to steal your thunder Frank but you are right to say that these are very important questions....