New mayor may ring a bell


THE newmayor of Tonbridge and Malling, CllrHowardRogers, has been formally elected to represent the borough for the forthcoming year. CllrRogers (56),whowasborn inKeston inKent,


joined the council in 2003 and represents East Peckham and Golden Greenward. He started his career as a statistician with a re-


gional health authority before moving into the commercial sector and establishing himself as a computer software development expert. He is chief executive of a UK software and consulting companywhere he hasworked for 25 years. He and his wife Janewere married in Hadlowin


2000. She has recently retired afterworking in the private equity sector for 18 years. They have two children and one granddaughter. CllrRogers isakeen sailorandskier,enjoysmodel aircraft and kitefly-


ing and has been a regular bell ringer since the age of10, currently ring- ingwith bands in Hadlow, Kemsing and Tonbridge. His chosen charities for the year are Kenward Trust and Tonbridge Child Contact Centre. The deputy mayor for the coming year is Cllr Sasha Luck who repre- sentsWest Malling and Leybourneward.


Cllr Dave Davis and his wife, Mary, with representatives of his chosen charities, RBLI and Crossroads CareWest Kent


Charity cash is handed over


TWOcharities have shared the £5,100 proceeds of a year of fundraising by Cllr Dave Davis during his term asmayor of Tonbridge andMalling. Cllr Davis hosted a wide range of events during his civic year, includ-


ing a charity dinner, theatre visit, a quiz and a pudding evening. He presented cheques to Crossroads Care West Kent, who received £2,050, and Royal British Legion Industries who were presented with £3,050. The latter included a donation of £1,000 specifically for RBLI. Cllr Davis said: “It has been a very enjoyable year and being able to help these charities in the process has made it reallyworthwhile.


Concerns over NHS 111 helpline


THE NHS 111 helpline has come under criticism from Ton- bridge and Malling Council, which has compiled a list of res- idents’ concerns about the serv- ice and its impact on A&E. In a report to the council’s communities and health advi- sory board, the council’s chief executive, Julie Beilby, has rec- ommended sending the list of concerns to various NHS organ- isations and KCC. Ms Beilby said callers who di-


alled 111 were often referred to a local ambulance service when other forms of assistance might


be more appropriate. She said ambulances and paramedics were being unnecessarily de- tained for up to four hours at A&E, at Maidstone Hospital and TunbridgeWells Hospital, Pem- bury, so they could pass patient information to the triage nurse. Lengthy and seemingly irrele-


vant questioning of callers; long waiting times at A&E; a lack of knowledge of out-of-hours serv- ices by NHS 111 staff; and the relocation of ambulances from Tonbridge and Sevenoaks to Paddock Wood were also criti- cised in Ms Beilby’s report.


In addition, residents were concerned that the lack of refer- rals to local out-of-hours serv- ices could lead to their closure, she added. The report suggested sending


the list of concerns to NHS Di- rect, the Maidstone and Tun- bridge Wells NHS Trust, the West Kent Clinical Commis- sioning Group and the South East Coast Ambulance Service as well as KCC. As DownsMail went to press,


the advisory board was due to decide whether the concerns should be passed on.


New route to


city announced A PROPOSED new coach service between Kings Hill and central London has been announced by Chalkwell. The nearest pick-up point


to Discovery Drive is cur- rently eight minutes away at Town Hill,West Malling. Customers have been


asked for their views on a list of suggested stops, including Victory Drive, Asda in Alexander Grove and Sta- tion Approach at West Malling.


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