Friday, February 13, 2015
Go to Tonbridge Library to see what they're planning for Tonbridge Town Centre....
TonbridgeBlog is keen to hear people's views on the latest proposed High Street Regeneration scheme as reported in the Courier today. I've yet to see the plans so I'll reserve judgement for now. Surely spending £2.62 million on the town centre can only be a good thing can't it? Or have we seen councils squander this kind of dough in the blink of an eye before and been left with very little to show for it? In this case it seems to be a joint project between Kent County Council, who are in charge of the Highways, and the borough council, TMBC. Some might see that alone as a recipe for disaster! For me, if they are to blow this amount, which is a serious sum for a small town centre like ours, the improvements would have to have a lasting legacy and not just look pretty for a couple of years. But what do you all think?... See the plans which are on public display at Tonbridge Library and the web site here I'm off there right now
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Well,seems to be a 20mph limit, widening pavements and improving 'street furniture'. Not sure how the claims of improving congestion will pan out - traffic will still use the route and rarely travel over 20mph now anyway... Seems an awful lot of money for a new 20mph sign and new paving slabs?...
I had a look this morning at 9 am, had to come home quick for some tranquillisers before my top blew! KCC can't be trusted, it will be a mess. As you say it's some sort of joint arrangement with TMBC, so no one will take responsibility. It's no more than a rehash of the 1980''s fiasco which widened the footpaths undertaken by a lot of cowboys. It will end up a disaster for traders who will have trouble getting deliveries, due to 20mph pollution will worsen. Disabled drivers will not be welcom. On the plus side, the whole High Stret will become a skateboard and cycle paradise and the traffic wardens will have a field day seven days a week.
The two councils will have probably already spent half of the £2.62 million on “consultants’ fees”.
Anyone know how long will the exhibition be on at the library? Not that I’ll be rushing down to see it.
PB, the library exhibition is until the 26th feb. Don't hold your breath on what is on display and there are no handouts to take away to browse at your leisure. I did send n email on the www.tonbridgehighstreet.org web site to ask if they were going to put the detail drawings online but 10 days on have had no reply.
To me it looks like cyclists will be squeezed out when the roads are narrowed and all those people that stop by bank cash machines and take aways and will have to go and park up or go elsewhere.Maybe the new Macdonald's drive in will benefit. However the genuine disabled that need to stop in the high street will have a problem.
Not looking forward to when emergency service have to get past the the traffic going at 20 mph or less.
It also looks like businesses will be able to pay a fee and put out tables and chairs on the wider pavements. All that fuss when shops put out A boards because they were a hazard for blind people and the like.
I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen the plans, anonymous, but it all seems a bit like re-arranging the deck-chairs on the deck of the Titanic.
On a different, but not totally un-related matter, has anyone noticed that work appears to have stopped on the tallest of the three East-European style housing blocks next to Waitrose? The one I am referring to is the one which is furthest from the High Street.
A good friend of mine reckoned that this particular block has been constructed with one floor more than what was granted in the original planning permission. Now I don’t know the ins and outs of this, but it does seem a little strange that work on this unit has stopped.
I don’t suppose anyone from the council, or the developers, would care to enlighten readers of Tonbridge Blog as to what actually is going on or, if this is just a nasty rumour, then kill the story off before people start believing it.
There are 11 bus routes that travel up the high street. Each one will stop to pick up passengers, say, twice an hour for 3 minutes. So, in every hour, 11 busses stop twice for 3 minutes each which means you have a stationary bus in the high street for 66 minutes - in every hour! Given that the pavements are to be widened so that there is nowhere for a bus to pull over, nothing will move on the high street in either direction for the whole day. Permanately stationary traffic. Brilliant!
I viewed the plans on Saturday, and can't see that the scheme will represent £2.6 million well spent. The designers have apparently been briefed to come up with a scheme to slow down traffic - hence the narrowing of the roadway, the 20mph speed limit and the raised platform pedestrian crossing. I wonder if the Councillors and Officers doing the briefing, or the scheme designers, ever tried driving down the High Street?
It is good, but I think u are making it out to be a bigger deal than it actually is. The problem is that they are doing cosmetic surgery and that usually attracts people. Getting rid of the road entirely and making a bypass might be better.. Note: I live in the US and have never seen it, but wanted to post something as I am a fan of downtown rehab projects...
Yes Paul, it would come as no suprise the developer slipped in an additional floor. Still I'm sure the appropriate brown envelope has been slipped under the table. It's interesting that the "artists impressions" on the hoardings shows just four floors, yet on the elevation the artist uses there are six floors! Have you noticed that same developers previous site just down the road is nominated as one of the high crime areas in Tonbridge?
Certainly looks like more floors than the pictures on the hoardings. How do they get away with such things.
Put an a board out on the street for a few hours and the council hops around stamping their feet.
Build an extra floor or two and no action.
Turn right opposite Kentucky fried and no action.
Spend £2.6m on the high street and barely and no comment on all the points raised by the public about why it's a waste of money
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