News


No clues to flats blaze


THEexact cause of the blaze that destroyed a block of flats in Snodlandmay never be known. A block on the Holborough


Lakes development caught fire on September 16, leaving the flats uninhabitable – and 23 fam- ilieswithout somewhere to live. Kent Fire and Rescue Service


(KFRS) quickly identified that the fire had started on a third- floor balcony, but they have since been unable to determine what was the actual cause, de- spite an extensive investigation. A KFRS spokesman said:


“KFRS has completedan investi- gation at the site of the fire, andis unable to determine a definitive cause of the fire, due to the dam- age on the balcony where it started. “KFRS will continue to con-


tribute to any further work the local authority or construction company involved wish to un- dertake in order the understand the circumstances of the fire and building performance.” Downs Mail reported last


month that the families dis- placed by the fire could be back in the block within a year, but some residents have taken to Facebook to speak of their frus- tration at the progress – and the lack of information from both Berkeley Homes and Southern HousingGroup.


downsmail.co.uk


Leisure centre gears up for fitness boom


A LEAP in demand for exercise classes is behind a £1m project to extend Larkfield Leisure Centre. Operators tmactive says the de-


velopment reflects a growing inter- est in group activities, away from the pool, including spin classes. It is making the financial com-


mitment with Tonbridge and Malling council, which owns the building – taking the place of the current garden by the café. Three newstudioswill be created


and the gym extended by 1,200 square feet. An extension to the front will


house the two new group exercise studios, with sprung floors, LED lights and inspirational graphics that will allow for a more varied group exercise programme. The investment follows research


by ukactive, showing a greater up- take of dry, group activities across the country, particularly bywomen – perhaps prompted by TV shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and events like the Tour de France. Swimming remains the most


popular activity according to na- tional data, but last year that fell to 35% of all leisure centre visits, while the proportion taking part in group exercise rose by 30%, with women driving the increase.


Representatives fromthe development teamoutside Larkfield Leisure Centre The Larkfield projectwill feature


the centre’s first dedicated group cycling studio and the extended gymwill have top-of-the-range car- diovascular and resistance equip- ment. Funding for the buildingwork is


coming from tmactive, while Ton- bridge andMalling council ismeet- ing more than £200,000 of the cost of replacing equipment. Chief executive of tmactive, Mar-


tin Guyton, says: “The number of people coming to Larkfield Leisure Centre for group exercise classes is growing year on year and we are delighted to be able to respond to


Youngsters rise to reading challenge


MORE than 1,700 children took part in the summer Reading Challenge 'Animal Agent' throughout Ton- bridge district libraries – and the winners (below)were presentedwith


their prizes at Snodland Library. LibrarianMallika Bhaduri said the


challenge is a national reading cam- paign which takes place every year during the summer holidays.


“It’s a fun way of encouraging


children to keep reading during the holidays and is produced by the reading agency and delivered by li- braries,” she said. All the children read six books and


were entered into a draw to win prizes. The libraries involved were Snod-


land, Larkfield, West Malling, Bor- ough Green, East Peckham, Hadlow, Hildenborough, Tonbridge and Ton- bridge North. Most of the prizes were donated by local businesses. Mallika said comments she re-


ceived from the children and their parents included: - “A lovely event, really great thing


to do. Our daughter was so excited at being chosen as she enjoyed the reading change” - “Poppy loved being selected for


this and felt very special. It’s been fun coming to a different library, too” - “Thank you so much for organis-


ing the summer reading challenge prize giving ceremony. It is such a lovely celebration of reading and has helped maintain my daughters' en- thusiasmfor reading.”


4 Malling November 2017


this with some fantastic new stu- dios. “The extension to the gym also


reflects patterns of use with in- creased investment in freeweights, functional training and digital con- nectivity to ensure our customers gainmaximumbenefit fromwork- ing out at Larkfield.” The centre will remain open


throughout thework,whichwill be phased to limit disruption. The new group exercise studios are scheduled to open inApril and the gym extension and Spin Studio in May. Customerswill be able to use themain reception throughout.


Warning over


car key thefts DRIVERS are beingwarned to take care of their car keyswhen they go to bed at night following a spate of burglaries in the area. Reports have beenmade in Lark-


field – including two on the same night – and Kings Hill of incidents where burglars have broken into a house and taken car keys, before driving the cars away. Among the vehicles taken are


BMWs,Mercedes and a VWGolf. Police Inspector Maxine Martin,


of Tonbridge and Malling’s Com- munity SafetyUnit,warned: “Some burglars may break in to your property looking for the keys to your vehicle as this allows themto bypass alarms and immobilisers. “I would advise owners to dou-


ble-lock their front doors at night and store car keys away fromdoors andwindows. “Cars should be parked in a


garage, a secure car park orwell-lit locationwhenever possible.” For advice on how to avoid be-


coming a victimof car theft visit the Kent Police website at www. kent.police.uk/advice/theft/car-and -large-vehicle-theft/


Family restaurant dreamdelight Ahmet, right, with brother Ali and twins Sefa andMerve andMevlana


IT’S a Turkish delight that has been seven years in themaking as Alim-et finally opens its doors to the public. The premises on London Road,


Larkfield, was bought by the Car- cabuk family in 2010, and after many false dawns, it has now been turned into the family restaurant they have always desired. Having first come to the area in


the late 1980s, Ahmet Carcabuk (54) admits it is a dreamcome true to finally open the restaurant. Ahmet’s younger brother Ali (52)


is also on board,with Ali’s three chil- dren – twin sisters Sefa and Merve (26) andMevlana (24) – the driving forces behind the new venture, while Ahmet’s son Burak (16) help- ing out when he has had time out fromhis studies. Mevlana said: “We never gave up our dreams of making this into a


restaurant.We’ve had so many con- tractors and architects, at one point we even considered a KFC franchise. We’ve had planning permissions re- jected, butwe got there in the end.” The restaurant’s official opening


for invited guests was on Saturday, November 4, with its doors open to the public the following day. The decoration has


cost


£500,000, with much of the décor inspired by Adiyaman, the family’s home town back in Turkey. The restaurant’s name comes


from a mixture of Ali and Ahmet’s names, with the hyphen put in as “et”meansmeat in Turkish. Meat is, of course, a speciality


with Ahmet’s renownedmarinade – honed since he first came to the UK – a speciality. “I’ve been using it for 32 years


and I’ve never had any complaints yet,” he said.


ww En an


downsmail.co.uk


News


TMBCmileage ‘too generous’


THE borough council has been hauled over the coals for wasting tax-payers’money. Tonbridge and Malling Borough


Council (TMBC) paidnearly £22,000 more than it needed to last year in staff mileage allowances, according to a study carried out by the Tax- Payers’Alliance. The alliance this month released


fresh researchthat shows the council again paid a generous 65p per mile to some, even though the Depart- ment for Communities and Local Government (DGLC) urged five years ago that councils should stop paying above HMRC’s approved rate of 45p. TMBCis one of only four councils


in Kent paying 65p per mile and it paid out £71,000 of tax-payers’ money on the higher band of mileage.This is not the first timeThe TaxPayers’ Alliance has hit out at councils for not being cautiouswith public money. It maintains that sticking to the


HMRC guidance is an “easy way councils can savemoneywithout af- fecting frontline services”.


JohnO'Connell, chief executive of


the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Dri- ving is extremely expensive in Britain thanks to sky-high rates of fuel duty and vehicle excise duty, but there’s no excuse for councils to pay more than HMRC’s approved rate formileage. It’s simply not cred- ible for local authorities to plead poverty and raise council tax while paying over the odds for basic ex- penses, especiallywhen the govern- ment has been telling themto rein in these payments for the past five years. “If TMBCwas to bring its rate


down to the approved level, they would have more money to spend on essential services, or better, left in taxpayers’ pockets.” A TMBC spokesman said: “Em-


ployees whose contract of employ- ment states that they are eligible to claim a ‘casual car user allowance’ for the ad hocmileage that they un- dertake on behalf of the council on infrequent occasions are reimbursed according to the nationally deter- mined ‘casual car user allowance’ prevailing at the time.”


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