Who do you want to vote for in the local elections on May 4th? Listen to representatives of all the 5 main parties make their pitch for your support.

After 20 years of Conservative rule, a coalition between the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Tunbridge Wells Alliance took over running the council in May 2022. Will the Conservatives return in May 2023?

You can hear me (Martin Webber) challenging the politicians on their policies on finances, car parks and local transport. Plus, do they think the controversial plan to build a new town on green belt farmland between Capel and Tudeley should be dropped.

You will hear 4 minute interviews with:

Tom Dawlings, Leader of Conservative Group;

Ben Chapelard of the Liberal Democrats who is Leader of the Council;

Hugo Pound, Leader of the Labour Group (also in charge of housing policy);

Lucy Willis of the Tunbridge Wells Alliance Party; and

Geoff Mason, Chair of the Tunbridge Wells Green Party

Traffic congestion continues to blight the roads of West Kent, causing delays and extra cost for local people and businesses. But nothing seems likely to change soon. There is apparently not enough money available to build the segregated cycle routes that would encourage a big switch to cycling. Meanwhile, some local bus routes are being axed despite the reduced £2 single fare initiative being extended to the end of June. Also on the podcast what happened when the scheme to impose 20 mph limits on traffic speeds in Tonbridge got a mixed response from the public.

In this podcast, Martin Webber discusses the big local transport issues with the man responsible for the area's roads, David Brazier of the Conservatives who's Kent County Council's cabinet member for Highways and Transport. David Brazier tells us why he thinks a cycle route within the existing A26 road width would be unsafe, while the idea of a new cycle route parallel to the A26 (on the fringes of farmland between Southborough and Tonbridge) would be unaffordable.

Plus you will hear from the Liberal Democrat's Peter Lidstone, who is the cycling and walking champion in Tunbridge Wells. And finally listen to the ideas of Adrian Berendt, who works for the national group Campaign for Better Transport and who's also vice-Chair of the Tunbridge Wells Town Forum. Adrian Berendt believes a new A26 segregated cycle lane is possible and would benefit the 7,000 children who attend schools along the A26 in the St. John's area.

South East Water has been accused of not investing enough in the area’s water supply system.

The criticism has come from Mike Martin of the Liberal Democrats who’s the party’s new parliamentary candidate in Tunbridge Wells. 

Mr Martin was reacting to the breakdown in the water supply system for many local residents before Christmas.  

Mike Martin is hoping to overturn Greg Clark’s Conservative majority in Tunbridge Wells when the next general election is held sometime in the next two years.

Mike Martin is a former British army officer, who now writes about the causes of conflict.  

One of my earlier podcast episodes was an interview with the current Tunbridge Wells MP, the Conservative Greg Clark, who confirmed he would be standing again. 

This episode is a half-hour interview with Mike Martin and we talked about climate change policies, Brexit, Afghanistan, Ukraine and public sector strikes, as well as the failings of water privatisation.

In a statement, South East Water’s chief financial officer, Andrew Farmer told us that between 2020 and 2025 the company is investing more than £480 million in upgrading infrastructure which includes the water treatment works and pipeline network. And Mr Farmer also said that South East Water is resident in the UK for tax purposes.

The seventy years of devoted service given by Queen Elizabeth II are marked by three moving interviews recorded in the days after her death in September. One resident recounted how the Queen once jokingly advised him to "behave yourself".

I spoke first to the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells, Godfrey Bland – it turns out he was one of the first people to see the new Queen Elizabeth in Kenya in 1952. Secondly, I heard from the Mayor of Southborough, Dianne Hill, who talks about how the Queen helped lift women's status in British society.

Finally, Peter Blackwell recalled for me his conversation with the Queen after being invited to Buckingham Palace. Peter Blackwell was born in Tunbridge Wells in 1944 and worked as a local telephone engineer, before becoming a magistrate in Tunbridge Wells in 1971. He then gave decades of service on the bench, which led him meeting the Queen in 2006.

You can also listen back to my recording of the official public reading of the Proclamation for the new King, read by the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells outside the Town Hall on Sunday 11th September 2022.

Picture of Queen from her 90th birthday courtesy of PRESS ASSOCIATION / Danny Lawson

Topics in our half hour chat ranged from building on green belt land, climate change and the cost of living to a private members bill he’s put forward in parliament on harassment of women in public places.  Since I recorded my interview, Greg's bill won government backing.

I also asked Greg Clark if he’d be standing again at the next election and what it was like to be in a cabinet meeting chaired by Boris Johnson.

But I started with why he wanted to go into politics.

There’s clearly a shortage of affordable housing for young people. On the other hand once valuable farmland is concreted over for house building projects – it’s gone for good.

A national planning inspector has now given his verdict on the latest housing Local Plan issued by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council – and it turns out the inspector has some big reservations about the proposals.

He has suggested the Council considers the option of cancelling of a central part of that Local Plan, which involves building a new settlement of almost 3,000 homes on farmland near Capel. The settlement is to be called “Tudeley Garden Village” and it is strongly opposed by many local people. They’ve formed a campaign group called “Save Capel”. The neighbouring council, Tonbridge and Malling are also against the settlement as it would increase traffic in nearby Tonbridge town centre .

So I spoke to Hugo Pound who is Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s cabinet member in charge of housing and planning. Then I got reaction from the Chairman of Save Capel, Stewart Gledhill. Plus the landowner Hadlow Estates states why the scheme would create a "beautiful" community.

In this first podcast, you can hear 6 fascinating interviews. I’ll be talking to:

Paul Ward of Mole End Farms on how he grows apples organically to help nature,

Lauren Brook - one of the organisers of a walk entitled "Reclaim the Night Rusthall",

Sally Bullion - a campaigner for a dedicated cycle route on the A26 to Hadlow,

Glenn Osborn - a Southborough shop owner of 30 years standing who says energy bills threaten his future,

Cllr Dianne Hill who says local democracy is at risk from proposed boundary changes in Tunbridge Wells and

Cllr Robin Betts on how the local council in Tonbridge is helping drivers of electric cars.