VILLAGE SCHEMES AXED IN SURPRISE MOVE
January 11, 2001 12:00 AM
I Am Asking For Assurances That KCC Will Pick Up The Tab
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has indicated its intention to axe all highway schemes from the Borough Council's Capital Plan, and ask the County Council to find the money instead.
At the meeting of the Borough's Finance and Property Board, Council Members were asked to rank schemes for next year's spending from the list of suggestions they had already submitted last September. But, at the meeting, the Council Leader, Mark Worrall, said that all the highway schemes within the list must be deleted, and "put in an envelope and posted to the County Council". His reason for ditching the Borough's contribution was the County Council's decision to end the Kent Highways Partnership, a decision which Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council supported.
The schemes affected were traffic calming in Court Road, Burham, improvements to the pedestrian crossing facility in Hall Road, Aylesford, traffic management in Wouldham High Street, additional footway in Station Road, Ditton and Aylesford Bailey Bridge Road, a series of safer routes to schools in Tonbridge, and improvements to the forecourt of West Malling Station.
Officers of Kent County Council have confirmed they were not aware of this last minute change of view by the Borough Council.
After the meeting, local County Council Member, Geoff Rowe, who represents Burham, Aylesford, Wouldham and Ditton said: "I shall be writing to the County Council Leader, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, asking for his assurance that KCC will pick up the tab so these schemes can go ahead after April as originally proposed. Otherwise, this out of the blue decision by Tonbridge & Malling will result in these important local improvement schemes being delayed at least a year or lost altogether."