Town Talk MPpraises students’ hard work
TRACEY Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, described Holmesdale Tech- nology College, as “incredibly well sup- ported by staff, parents and pupils” when she handed out awards at its certificate presentation evening. “School days really are the best days
of your life,” she said, “and what people achieve at this school is very important to me as an MP. Leave school without any regrets! As long as you have tried your hardest, that is the most important thing. “In my job, the thing I enjoy more than anything else is celebrating local
achievements. I never achieved anything at school and if I can become an MP with no prizes, just think what you can do.” The evening was to celebrate the suc-
cess of students in last year’s public ex- aminations. Twenty one former Year 11 students received special subject awards for their achievements at GCSE or BTEC level and 24 former Year 13s were pre- sented with A-level prizes. Earlier, school principal Julia Campbell
said the results were “staggering”. “We’ve had an exceptional year with the best re- sults yet and this was due to you – stu- dents, parents and staff.”
New jobs in pipeline at Vantage Point
A PLANNING application has been submitted that will help meet the employment needs of Tonbridge and Malling borough. Lafarge Cement plans to de-
velop 4.11 hectares of land, which was part of Holborough Cement Works, Snodland, called Vantage Point. It lies be- tween the A228 Holborough Road and the Medway Valley railway line. The application is for the con- struction of a business park, which will include the demolition of existing buildings and struc- tures currently on the site, the development of parking and servicing areas, landscaping, surface water storage areas and the enhancement of the existing Pocket Park. A spokesman for the company
told Town Talk: “The proposals will provide a high quality em- ployment area, which will help meet the employment needs of the borough as well as do much
to improve the appearance of the site and the surrounding area, which is currently unused and relatively unattractive.” He added: “It is mainly previ-
ously developed land for which planning permission has already been given for its development for employment use, which has been partly implemented.” The cement works (Blue Cir-
cle) was closed in 1986 and the buildings were demolished in the 1980s and early 1990s. None of the land on the site is needed for the proposed Med- way Cement Works. At present a date has not been
set for the start of the new works. The spokesman explained: “Whilst keeping all its planning permissions alive and complying with its various obligations, La- farge is waiting for improve- ments in the UK and wider economy before concluding on the decision to construct the Medway Works.”
A business park at Vantage Point could bring much needed jobs to the area
Youth centre remains on agenda
KENT County Council has not made a decision about the fu- ture of SAMAYS youth centre at Holmesdale Technology Col- lege, Snodland. The council has been reviewing how activities for young people are to be delivered in the future and 700 people replied to the consultation between August 1 and October 29 last year. There is a possibility that SAMAYS may be closed and replaced with a ‘youth hub’ to be built in Tonbridge. Local MP Tracey Crouch, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, Snodland Town Council and the Snodland Partner- ship are all strongly opposed to a closure of SAMAYS. A spokesperson for KCC said the council will pursue the
plan to have robust, directly delivered youth work provided by KCC in each district, supplemented and supported by ad- ditional youth work offered by other organisations. Mike Hill, cabinet member for customer and communities,
said: “Discussions will now take place in each district and borough to look at exactly what youth provision is needed and how it might be delivered in each area.”
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Town Talk 3
Tracey Crouch presents Si- mone Mor- ris with the Canterbury Christ Church Uni- versity award as the most improved student at key stage 4
Town council hopes solar
panels will keep down costs INCREASED costs mean Snodland Town Council has had to in- crease its contribution towards Council Tax for 2012-13 by £1.44 a year for a Band D property – about 3p per week. Members of the council were told that the grant from Tonbridge
andMalling Borough Council will be reduced by £5,000, grass cut- ting costs will be £3,000 higher because of the new football pitches at Potyns Sportsground and a number of street lights need repair or replacement. The council agreed to put £2,000 a year aside to pay for the cost
of the next town council election in 2015 and money was required for events planned to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June. There are also plans to buy new play equipment and new kerbstones are needed for the cemetery. If the council is able to obtain sufficient funding from Tonbridge
and Malling council and other outside sources it is planned to in- stall solar heating panels at the Devonshire Rooms, which would save on electricity costs and, hopefully, stop the charge of hiring the hall from increasing.
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Local news for Snodland and Halling
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