“Our agreement is for a year. The clock is ticking. I’m going to be working really hard to show that in the next 12 months the Borough Partnership administration can deliver.”
“The deficit last year was £944,000, which has been plugged by reserves, so in the old administration’s view, that would have been balanced. (But) over the next five years, if we don’t do something about it, we’re going to have a £20million hole in the Council finances.
“First of all, national government has destroyed local government in terms of cuts to its budget, so the council now receives no Revenue Support Grant – money for local government to help run local services.
“That is now zero, since I’ve been on the council.
“And obviously, the income that we’re getting post Covid hasn’t gone back to pre-Covid levels. If it doesn’t, we’re going to have an even bigger problem to deal with.”
Giving some detail on how the coalition’s five priorities would work in practice, Cllr Chapelard pointed to the new portfolio held by deputy leader Cllr Nancy Warne (TWA), saying:
“I feel there’s a whole area of the borough that’s been neglected because it’s not Tunbridge Wells-centric and therefore we’ve created a portfolio called rural communities deliberately to push that part of the borough.”
“Justine’s portfolio (Cllr Rutland) is about Tunbridge Wells town, and the local areas, because you walk up to the top of town, and it looks more and more deserted. So we want someone whose whole focus is driving that agenda forward.
“She’s going to be supported by Matthew Sankey (local business champion) and Pete Lidstone (walking and cycling champion), because the problem with Tunbridge Wells is it looks a car park most of the time, and we’ve got to get people out of cars, walking and cycling.
“And we also want to make sure we have a farmer’s market at the top of town, to try and rejuvenate that part of town.”
Governance and transparency priorities would also support rural communities, he revealed. “We are taking Cabinet on a tour to meet residents and be accountable to them. I think that it’s important that we show our face and that we are listening to all parts of the borough.”
