Poor Quality Services in Tunbridge Wells Continue under the Conservatives

6.30.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 6th Jun 2004

TWBC Services Continue to disappoint

Residents of Tunbridge Wells have made their views clear on their priorities for action by the Borough Council. The top four are Refuse Collection; Public Toilets; Street Cleaning; and Car Parking.

Residents consider that performance in each of these areas falls significantly short of the standard expected.

The most urgent priority is refuse collection. The introduction of the brown bin system was poorly handled; but, what is worse, the Council has failed to listen to feedback from dissatisfied customers on the operation of the system, on the lack of kerb-side re-cycling facilities for glass and metal, and on the absence of re-cycling opportunities for plastic.

Next on the list is the provision of public toilets. Residents (and visitors) are dissatisfied with the current provision; yet the plan is to continue (and even accelerate) the closure programme.

Third is street cleaning. Residents feel that streets (and pavements) are not as clean as they would like. Yet there is no plan to increase the frequency of cleaning.

The fourth priority is car parking. Residents and visitors alike bemoan the lack of off-street parking facilities and the way in which the on-street parking system operates. Many have also complained about the method of payment. Yet there are no plans to increase the number of car parks, to change the operation of the off-street parking system or to change the method of payment.

In short, in every one of these areas, residents have expressed dissatisfaction about the performance of the Council; yet there are no plans to improve the quality of the service. On the contrary, all the indications are that the quality is set to decline further.