Nobody can say I'm not trying!

Regular readers will recall my fateful meeting with elderly residents from St Philips Court in Sherwood (Won't Be Making That Mistake Again, July 21) where I thought I was helping their accessibility to the local doctor and chemists by arranging a Kent Karrier service - apparently much to their disgust!

What they really wanted, of course, was for the existing Arriva 277 bus service to vary its route to pick them up close to St Philips Church, then drop them off at the existing bus stops along Greggs Wood Road.

I sent yesterday a pile of Kent Karrier leaflets and application forms to the Manager of St Philips Court, and suggested that she made these available to those residents who couldn't be at the previous meeting, but who might find the Kent Karrier option useful. I also sent a wad of timetables and routing details for the Countyliner 279 Sunday service, which you may recall I arranged through Kent County Council when Arriva discontinued their Sunday service back in April of this year.

I also wrote to Arriva yesterday to ask if they would consider varying the 277 route - even if this change were only made to one of the four buses every hour. Time will tell whether I'm successful in my request, but nobody can say I'm not trying!

CORE Fun Day

Saturday saw the 2008 Fun Day arranged by the Community for Oak Road Estate (CORE) group. Incredibly, it was even better than last year - more fun, more stalls, more people. The Halstead Brass Band were there, lending an old fashioned village fete atmosphere, and the Tri Star Twirlers gave a polished and - unusual given other majorette troupes I've seen recently - unsupervised performance, without an adult standing at the front prompting the steps.

Barbecue, tea tent, Karl's Sweet Shop, raffles, lucky dips, everything you'd expect to see. Gary the Community Warden and Liz Wadey were there, patiently watching their pristine police car being "washed" by young lads with water pistols.

It was good to see both the sound system and the bouncy castle, which I funded from KCC Member Grant getting good use too!

In all, a glowing testament to the organisational skills of Zena, Dave, Jackie and the rest of the CORE team. Well done - we're all looking forward to next year!

Arriva 277 bus timetable and routing

Just a quick one. I noticed from my blog statistics today that several people have been searching for the timetable of the 277 bus that runs Tunbridge Wells - Sherwood - North Farm - Knights Park.

For information then, you can click on this link to access the timetable, and this link to see the route.

Hope this helps.

Some days you may as well stay in bed

Some days I just don't understand. Some days you do the very best you can, but still it seems you're out of step. A week ago, Greg Clark MP and I met with the Chief Executive and General Manager of Arriva to discuss bus services in Sherwood. One of the biggest problems for many elderly residents is that, a few years ago the bus route changed, no longer stopping outside the Medical Centre, the Community Centre or the Chemists.

And so it was that yesterday I rushed from a meeting in Tonbridge to be at St Philip's Church in Sherwood for a meeting with residents of St Philip's Court, a warden-assisted residential block in Sandhurst Road. Around twenty five elderly and frail people waited to hear what I had to say.

"I've spoken to the Kent Karrier service" I said "and they'll run a mini bus service which will pick you up from your front door, take you to the Medical Centre, TN2 Centre and Chemists, then wait around and bring you back again". I waited expectantly for the "well done". Nothing.

"That's no good to us" said one lady. "Useless!" said another. One by one, the grand plan I had so carefully put in place was torn to shreds by the very people it was meant to help. I explained it again, but slower - you pay just £5 a year subscription, then the minibus will pick you up from your front door, take you to the shops, coffee with friends, or - in this case - the Medical Centre, leave you for a while then pick you up again.

"That's weird" said a tiny lady next to me. "What a weird idea! It'll never happen". My mouth went dry, my palms began to sweat. "Can I take it then that you don't want me to set this up for you?"

"NO!" said two ladies quite forcefully, and standing up, put on their coats and left. It was the final straw. "Give him a chance" said one chap, but it was no good. My best laid plan lay in tatters. You know, some days it all seems to come together, some days you may as well stay in bed...

TN2 Community Trust - one year on and getting better every day

I went along to the Annual General Meeting of the TN2 Trust this evening. TN2, you may remember, is the community trust we set up to run the new community centre on Greggs Wood Road. It doesn't seem like a year since we opened the doors of the new building and let local residents take over.

Sadly, the outgoing Chairman, Zoe Jangaard couldn't be there as she's off with a bug at the moment, but Vice Chairman John Beadle read a report in her place. It talked about the extra numbers of people using the centre, the additional groups with which TN2 are working - the FRED Club and Four Walls, both working with disability groups. The new Toddler and Co group for mums, dads and child minders. The football teams who play in the sports hall on Tuesdays and Fridays. The Tea Time Club and the Leisure Group.

Above all, this was a story of local people. People who worked hard and learned new skills. And above all, people who persevere, day after day, to give their community better than it used to have. I congratulate the incoming Chairman, Lynne Weatherley - she's immensely talented and has a tough job ahead as the TN2 Centre takes the next leap towards self-sufficiency.

And - although not mentioned this evening - thanks should go also to Nazeya Hussein and Estelle Grant from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council who have worked really hard to support the residents in this brave new venture.

TN2 Community Trust - one year on and getting better every day.

Don't you just love a happy ending?

We've done it! At tonight's meeting of the Tunbridge Wells Joint Transportation Board, borough and county councillors agreed that Sandhurst Road in Sherwood should have a pedestrian crossing as soon as possible.

Residents present at the meeting - including campaigner Lynne Martindale, herself partially sighted and finding crossing Sandhurst Road particularly difficult - heard officers present a paper suggesting that several road improvements should be made to prevent speeding traffic and to improve road safety for local residents.

As the local County Councillor, I spoke about the residents of St Philip's Court who were marooned between Sandhurst Road and Liptraps Lane; of the pupils at Sherwood Park Primary School, one of whom had already been knocked down while trying to cross the road; and of so many local residents, including Lynne, who took their lives in their hands simply trying to get from one side of the road to the other.

Local development, in the form of the Barnardos development along Sandhurst Road, has provided much-needed funding by way of Section 106 funding. The sum, £25,000, will pay for a much-needed first pedestrian crossing, whilst studies are already being made into further improvements along this 'rat run' between Pembury Road and the industrial estate.

After the vote, local Borough Councillor Frank Williams and I met with several local residents outside the meeting, and the happines on their faces said it all. Very soon, residents young and old will be able to cross this busy road without worry.

Residents working alongside elected councillors and eventually winning. Don't you just love a happy ending?

A partnership win for Sherwood

This morning, I joined Greg Clark MP, local Borough Councillor Ted Jolley and several Sherwood residents at the TN2 Community Centre, to meet with Chief Executive of Arriva South East Heath Williams and General Manager Brian O'Kane.

The purpose of the meeting was to air and resolve some of the long-standing issues over bus services in and around the Sherwood area. Sunday buses, routing patterns, timetabling, accessibility - all were discussed this morning.

Residents' concerns were that bus services no longer ran to Knights Park; that available bus stops for some elderly residents were simply too far from where they lived; and that since local services were re-routed some years ago, there was no bus access to the Medical Centre, the chemist, the TN2 Centre or the local shops - all on Greggs Wood Road. Some residents are having to pay £8 for a taxi to drive them the short distance to their doctor's appointment - clearly a nonsense when buses run just yards away.

The meeting was positive and productive, and Arriva were certainly in listening mode. For KCC's part, I undertook to look into several issues which made Arriva's job a little more difficult. In the spirit of the recently-signed Quality Bus Partnership between Arriva, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Kent County Council, I agreed to try to resolve these issues for the benefit of all.

The good news was the announcement by Arriva that they have ordered three brand new buses for the 277 route, each with dropped access suitable for elderly and disabled passengers. Each bus costs £90,000, and this investment of £270,000 is made that much easier by the fact that Greggs Wood Road will soon be resurfaced and therefore safer for the new buses to travel down.

It was a really useful meeting, and I'm grateful to Greg Clark for organising it. If we all play our part, once again we can deliver a partnership win for Sherwood.

The Effort Seemed Worthwhile

On April 5th I wrote a post which lamented the demise of the 277 Sunday bus service around the Sherwood Estate in Tunbridge Wells ("I Love It When A Plan Comes Together"). It seems the bus company had provided this much-needed service just as long as they were being compensated for its cost by developer contributions from the Great Lodge Retail Park in Tunbridge Wells.

Sadly, as soon as those contributions ran out - around five years - the service was pulled, leaving many elderly and disabled residents, not to mention young people and others without access to a car, stranded.

I met with transport planners at Kent County Council, and we hatched a plan whereby an existing Sunday service from another operator could be diverted from its existing route to allow it to cover the old Sherwood Sunday service. A licence would have to be applied for to allow route variation, and that should take around five weeks.

Last evening, a local resident handed me a paper which had been pushed through her door. It was a bus timetable for the new Sunday service, which is now up and running.

When another local resident made a point of shaking my hand and thanking me for bringing back the service, suddenly the effort seemed worthwhile.

Most days are like this!

Yesterday was one of those days - I dropped my youngest off at school at 8.30am, then drove over the the TN2 Community Centre in Sherwood to join in another "Ward Walk" ("A Priceless Insight", June 4th).

This lasted until 1.40pm, when I had to leave to get to King's Hill in West Malling. Here I had a two o'clock meeting with the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Kent and Medway Mental Health Partnership Trust. I'd allowed ninety minutes for this, but it overran slightly and I found myself rushing to get to my next meeting, 4.30pm at St Barnabas Church in Tunbridge Wells to discuss the new Community Centre. I was two minutes late for this, but they were just making coffee so it was fine.

This ran until 5.40pm and I dashed back to Sherwood for the meeting of the TN2 Community Trust. I had allowed fifty minutes for this, in order that I could get to Pembury for a meeting with colleagues about campaigns in Sherwood and St James.

By the time I got home it was just after eleven - fifteen hours since I'd left that morning. And this isn't unusual - most days are like this!

A Fun Day for TN2!

Yesterday saw the small square outside the TN2 Centre on Greggswood Road decked out in bunting and flags, with stalls selling anything from bric a brac to Indian food. The TN2 Fun Day called for a huge amount of organisation from a small but dedicated band of volunteers, who started early yesterday morning setting up for the day ahead.

A barbecue served burgers, and sevreal of the TN2 Trustees were in fancy dress. A live band performed in the main TN2 Centre, while outside on the square a DJ kept the music going.

This was an event to be proud of - showing once again that there's a real community spirit in Sherwood, and that it was worth all the work over the years in making the TN2 Centre become a reality.

Making a difference on the Oak Road Estate

Last week saw the inaugural "Val Joy Community Awards" event at David Salomon's Centre in Tunbridge Wells (http://www.tchg.org.uk/news.php?page=view&item_id=48). Hosted by the Town and Country Foundation, the awards are named after local Sherwood resident Val Joy, who sadly died last year.

Categories were Community Group of the Year, Community Champion of the Year, Volunteer of the Year and Young Volunteer of the Year. On the night, the CORE group (Community of Oak Road Estate) scooped the major prize - Community Group of the Year. The photo above shows Zena and Dave from CORE with their award at yesterday's TN2 Fun Day.

As I said when I wrote to congratulate them, it was no surprise to me. Working out of the changing room block on the Colebrook Recreation Ground that I managed to get refurbished back in 2002, the tiny group of volunteers headed up by Dave and Zena have organised events, parties, activities for local kids and fundraisers - only last month they organised an event to raise money for little Karl Richardson http://kevinlynes.blogspot.com/2008/05/sweet-shop-for-day.html

I've been happy to fund lighting and sound equipment, and more recently a bouncy castle from my KCC Member Grant for CORE, because they take their role very seriously - they're well organised, well attended and passionate about making a difference on the Oak Road Estate.

A Priceless Insight

Although yesterday had been a long day, nevertheless I kept my appointment in Sherwood - and how pleased I was that I did. I met at the TN2 Community Centre with officers and Councillors from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, to undertake a "Ward Walk".

This great initiative, dreamed up by the Borough Council, involves officer/member pairing calling door to door, inviting residents to complete with us a detailed questionnaire on local services and amenities.

I was paired with Nazeya Hussein, Head of Community and Corporate Planning. She and I got on extremely well anyway, and I think we both really enjoyed meeting with and finding out about the residents whom we met. I learned far more from the Ward Walk interview than I ever could from the doorstep canvassing that politicians usually do.

Ward Walks are a fantastic idea, and although I'm sure the questionnaires will evolve over time to become more streamlined, they gave a priceless insight into what local people really think about their local services.

Sweet shop for a day

I was invited today to the Oak Road Estate. To a celebration - with music and burgers and tombola and, despite heavy rain, with lots of people. The purpose of the celebration - which was organised by CORE, the Community of Oak Road Estate, was one very brave young man - Karl, who at just nine years old has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Karl has brought the whole community together, and today they presented him with his Mum and Dad, a few extras for the coming months. Like a cheque for £4156 raised by the neighbours; £1200-odd raised by his school friends at Sherwood Park Primary; £200 given by the SPA group; and around £200 more raised by local people at today's event.

And a football signed by the entire Charlton Athletic team. And a set of photos of Chelsea made up by a local print works. And a real WWF belt donated by the World Wrestling Federation.

And a sweetshop. You see, Karl always dreamed of his own sweetshop. So today, they set him up a tent with a special sign made by a local business, and with all the stock bought by the CORE group.

And Cheryl Baker, who was asked by locals to come along and make a fuss of Karl. She was great.

But even Cheryl wasn't as great as the residents of the Oak Road Estate. Or Karl's parents. Or, most importantly, Karl himself, running his sweet shop for a day.

That's a real community

Whilst travelling around Sherwood yesterday, I heard a great story about community values. It's only a simple thing, but it really struck a chord with me.

Around a year ago, some of the residents of Greggs Wood Road in Sherwood began to lobby me for a new bus stop outside the shops. The old one was just a stop - no seating, no cover - and for many of the older people who rely on the service to get them into town, it was not pleasant on cold, windy, rainy days.

It took a while, but I fianlly managed to get a new shelter installed - with roof, side panels and a seat.

Just a normal request and a normal response, you might think - but what amazed me was that the same residents wanted extra seats, and so pushed their Borough Council for a bench next to the shelter, which they now have.

And the icing on the cake? A group of locals now come out each and every day with a bowl of hot soapy water, and wash down their shelter to keep it looking brand new. That's a real community.

A Fascinating Insight

Having promised my new PA for some months that I would take her into my constituency and show her around, yesterday I finally managed to get around to keeping that promise.

We met in Tunbridge Wells at 9am, and I showed her around Pembury, stopping to admire the new Football Pavilion and new classroom block at the Primary School. It confirmed to me that Pembury is really very well served by amenities. The new children's playground at the recreation ground, pavilion and football pitches, new classrooms, an excellent village hall, plenty of elderly care facilities, a large supermarket at the end of the village, great pubs and restaurants.

Before leaving Pembury we stopped to admire the new and imposing Cornford House residential home, before stopping at Pepenbury for a coffee in the sunshine, being impressively served by one or two of the learning disabled residents.

Moving on to Sherwood, we visited the Primary School, saw the new Little Forest Children's Centre, the changing room block used so effectively as a base by the Community of Oak Road Estate, then drove round to the new TN2 Community Centre. It was great to see the centre so well used - pre-school toddlers playing so happily alongside a busy library with story time in progress, a well-attended community cafe and downstairs the "Fred Club" - activities and outings for young adults with learning disabilities. It was also good to see the resurfacing work to Greggs Wood Road had begun!

In St James, there's much to do; litter, graffiti, general parking and traffic issues. Pavements and road surfaces leave much to be desired, but meetings have been set and the pressure will be on Kent Highways to deliver. St Barnabas Church, cheek by jowl with the school, have moved mountains to be able to offer good pre-school nursery facilities, and the take-up by local children has been astonishing. The newly re-elected Borough Councillor will need to impress with action after the promises made at local elections.

But throughout the day, I was struck by the sense of community. Local people improving their surroundings and facilities by pushing and cajoling local decision makers. To see all three wards - each with their own character - in one visit was as useful to me as I hope it was to my colleague. It was a fascinating insight into a large part of Tunbridge Wells.

I love it when a plan comes together!

A week or two ago a Sherwood resident contacted me to alert me to the fact that the 277 Sunday bus service, which provided Sherwood residents with vital access into Tunbridge Wells town centre, was to end tomorrow - Sunday 6th April.

I did some checking, and found the story was true - the service had been paid for by Section 106 contribution from property development on the industrial estate - from Toys R Us, PC World, B and Q and so on. The funding only lasted for a few years and now it had ended. Along with the bus service.

Kent County Council were alerted to this, and our transport officers began looking at options. We looked at alternative providers, and finally started negotiations with CountryLine.

Yesterday, I spoke at length with David Hall, the County Transportation Manager who told me we had signed agreements that afternoon, and that within weeks the CountryLine Sunday service which ran along Pembury Road, would turn onto the Sherwood Estate and provide a full replacement to the defunct 277 route.

It was great to see the look on the faces of Sherwood residents when I announced this last evening - broad smiles and a hearty round of applause said it all. As Hannibal from the A-Team would have said - "I love it when a plan comes together"!

Holding the Council to account

Last September, I organised a public meeting in Sherwood for long-suffering residents to vent their anger about the state of Greggs Wood Road - the main access through the estate.

Keith Ferrin, KCC Cabinet Member for Highways and his officers promised at that meeting that at least the most important end of Greggs Wood Road - from Sherwood Road down past the Medical Centre, the entrance the the primary school, the shops and the new TN2 Community Centre - would be resurfaced in six months.

Last night, together with Borough Councillor Frank Williams, we organised a follow up meeting with Keith Ferrin to make sure KCC was delivering on its promises.

Local residents voiced a range of concerns - about the quality of the work, about when the job would be completed; about when the rest of the road would be resurfaced as well. It wasn't an easy meeting, for Frank, for me or for Keith Ferrin. But it did show that council taxpayers can have a say in hoiw and when their local services are delivered, and that they should hold the Council to account.

Access to shops and leisure shouldn't be a postcode lottery?

I had a worrying letter from a concerned Sherwood resident today

It seems that the 277 Sunday bus service, which for some years has provided a vital transport lifeline from Sherwood Estate into Tunbridge Wells town centre, is to be discontinued by Arriva from Sunday 6th April.

Of course, if the Sunday service goes, so will the Bank Holiday services. If this service ends, with it ends shopping and leisure trips for scores of parents, children and young people who don't own cars and rely on this bus service for leisure and shopping.

I'm told that the bus service was previously funded by contributions from property developments on the Sherwood Estate. It seems as soon as these ran out, the service was doomed to discontinuation. My hope is that we can raise the profile of this service, and somehow find alternative means of providing the funding.

In this day and age, access to shops and leisure shouldn't be a postcode lottery...

A Return to Normality

After a hectic peer review in Dorset last week, it was back to normal today.

An 8am meeting with the Managing Director of Kent Adult Social Services, then post, calls and emails until 10am.

A busy Cabinet Members meeting from 10am until midday, followed by a meeting until 2pm with the Cabinet Member for Public Health on Local Involvement Networks and the new KCC HealthWatch programme.

This afternoon, a series of calls to colleagues in other authorities to discuss this week's meeting of South East Counties Adult Social Care.

I raced out of County Hall just after 5pm to get to a 6pm Governors' meeting at Sherwood Primary School, then Pembury Parish Council at 8pm, from where I'm writing this posting!

Hopefully I'll be home just after 10pm. Having left home at 7am, the fifteen hour day seems like a return to normality!

A True Community Champion

I'm often asked to stand up and speak to groups of people. Yet today - although a very real honour - was the hardest yet.

A few weeks ago, Sherwood Estate lost one of its greatest assets. Val Joy, a resident for over thirty years, died following a spell in hospital. As the new TN2 Centre took shape, Val said she'd really like to see a water feature on the deck overlooking the lake. And so it was that today, local residents asked me to unveil the water feature Val had wanted to see, and to say a few words in her honour.

Val was one of our real characters - a true community champion, she was a Tenant Rep for Town and Country Housing, and a founder member of the TN2 Community Trust. She was given a civic award for her work in Sherwood, as well as a Kent Volunteering Award. She could sometimes be awkward - can't we all - but only because she wanted the best outcomes - for her friends and for her neighbourhood.

Val worked as a cleaner at Pembury Hospital, and when the management told her they were cutting her hours, she protested. Not for herself, but because the shorter hours would mean she was unable to lay up the lunch tables for the patients. Nonetheless, the hours were cut - and Val still laid up the lunch tables. But on her own time, and without pay.

On summer days, overlooking the lake out on the deck of the TN2 Centre, the gentle trickle and splash of water will give a rare moment of calm against the noise of the busy and successful new Community Centre. Val Joy would have been really pleased on both counts.