IT HAS BEEN a long cold ( Gulf ) winter with many problems at home and abroad still unresolved .sx But for a few moments , let us talk of the joys of spring .sx This mild , sunny week the lanes of Kent and East Sussex have been adorned by roadside primroses , starry yellow celandines and pale mauve cuckoo flowers .sx Gardens , parks and roundabouts and verges have been decorated by one of the loveliest shows of daffodils in years , thriving in the cool westerly breezes that make them dance and bow their heads .sx Tree buds are bursting into life , blossom is slowly but surely coming out , and soon the heady scent of wallflowers will delight all those with the time and inclination to pause and enjoy it .sx In evening fields owls have been hooting and screaming , pheasants croaking , and badgers wandering .sx The nights draw out , and it is possible to linger in the heavenly evening air , well past eight-o-clock .sx Greenhouses have been tidied , flower beds weeded , paths swept and spring cleaning started ; the annual signs of another coming summer ( Surely not as good as last year !sx But there's no harm in hoping .sx .. ) .sx It does us all good to lay down our burdens occasionally , and delight in the simple pleasures .sx And there is no better time to do so than at winter's end .sx TONBRIDGE High Street used to be the main A21 route from London to Hastings .sx It was choked with heavy traffic , light traffic , slow traffic and every other sort of traffic .sx Twenty years ago the bypass was built , and suddenly the High Street was a delight .sx You could actually hear yourself talk .sx Driving from one side of town to the other was a simple matter .sx And shopping was a pleasure again .sx But it didn't last !sx By the eighties , there seemed to be as much traffic as ever .sx And now you would hardly know there is a bypass , the High Street is so noisy and busy again for most of the day .sx So a borough council scheme to widen the pavements , and make other improvements for pedestrians , must be welcome , even though it has caused some consternation in the town .sx At any rate , the plan must be fully and openly discussed , and every effort made to make Tonbridge welcoming once more .sx Another idea ( on today's letters page ) is for a one way system .sx We urge caution here , because some lovely old towns have been ruined like that before .sx But we do agree that something MUST be done .sx EDUCATION IS a political punch-bag , and everyone involved in running schools , further education colleges , and universities must by now be punch-drunk .sx A succession of education ministers have introduced a series of fundamental reforms , many overturning those that came before .sx In the past ten years , children have been the unwilling passengers on an educational switchback , including teachers' strikes , shortages of materials , appalling classroom conditions , and the introduction of new tests and exam courses that have each , in turn , been called into serious question .sx Now the Government seems set on the biggest change of all , taking the cost - and therefore the control - of education entirely out of the local arena .sx Meanwhile , it is pushing ahead with sweeping reforms of the national curriculum , exam structure , and the relationship between basic education and further training - both academic and vocational - which is a hyper sensitive area , the success of which will largely dictate the future prosperity of the country .sx The strain on the system imposed by such high level Government leadership or interference - depending on your viewpoint - is becoming very clear .sx It led to an unparalleled attack on the Government this week by the leader of the ultra-Conservative Kent County Council , and a joint declaration by unions , teachers and educationalists in East Sussex against the proposed Whitehall takeover .sx Both topics are reported page 24 .sx Readers who study these , and similar , stories in the national Press , will quickly realise the complexities of the issues at stake .sx It would be folly to rush into major decisions without full consultation , and without a measure of consensus among the people who will have to put any new policies into effect .sx With a General Election , and possible change of Government , looming , it seems to be a difficult time to say the least , for such radical measures to be introduced .sx ON A LIGHTER Topic , Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is disappointed about the lack of immediate response to its bid for success in the Britain in Bloom contest .sx It sent out 4,000 leaflets to town centre property owners , encouraging them to put on a flower power display and inviting them to enter a local contest .sx Only 20 people replied , and even before the judges visit Tunbridge Wells , town hall officials admit " We don't stand a chance .sx " .sx But as every gardener knows , new ideas take time to blossom .sx Such a blooming good scheme must be nurtured and 'brought on' slowly .sx IT WOULD be easy to cast Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in the role of Villain in the case of a 77-year-old woman who was taken to prison for refusing to pay last year's poll tax .sx But consider the factual , rather than the emotive side of the issue before passing judgement .sx First and foremost among the facts , and one which many people seem to have overlooked , was that it was not the council which imposed the 14-day prison sentence - it was the magistrates , as was their right .sx In the weeks that followed , with the deadline for the sentence to take effect being reached and passed , the council , by letter , telephone calls , personal calls and chats over a cuppa , tried persistently but unsuccessfully to get her to change her mind .sx One particular officer even offered to pay her poll tax himself , as did members of her family .sx But money was not the issue - she had over pounds16,000 in hard earned savings .sx The council could have arranged for bailiffs or a security firm to take her to prison but decided that if the deed had to be done it were better done in the comfort of a nice car with an officer she had come to know and two of his colleagues .sx Outside Holloway that particular officer repeated his offer to pay the community charge for her , hardly the action of a member of what a national newspaper described as a " snatch squad " taking part in a " Gestapo-style " operation .sx It was the same newspaper which paid the pounds327 tax bill to bring to an end , after one night , her stay in prison , her much admired and determined stand for a principle and her choice to spend 14 days behind bars to defend it .sx She may still get another chance to prove her point - she says she won't pay this year's tax either .sx OLD REGIMENTS , like old soldiers , never die , even when amalgamated and the Queen's Regiment shows no signs of fading away as it faces the threat of amalgamation with the Royal Hampshires .sx With the motto " Unconquered I serve " it is hardly surprising that the county regiment for East Sussex and Kent refuses to give in and meekly accept the consequences of planned army cuts .sx Now the battlecry " demand justice " has been sounded and supporters of the six regiments which form the Queen's are being urged to rally round the colours .sx With the pen preferred to the sword , the Colonel of the Regiment , Major General Mike Reynolds , wants them to write to the Prime Minister , Defence Secretary and their local MPs demanding equality of treatment with its sister large regiments , which are not being merged , and the preservation of its name and its bands .sx There's a saying in Sussex - " we won't be druv .sx " Neither , if it can help it , will its county regiment .sx BY APRIL 1993 many parts of the National Health Service are expected to have become self governing trusts .sx And Tunbridge Wells Health Unit has , as it coyly puts it , expressed an interest in being one of them .sx If it does go down this road the Kent and Sussex and Pembury Hospitals as well as local community hospitals and services will opt out of Tunbridge Wells Health Authority control .sx Locally this will be tremendously important - affecting a staff of 3,000 , a budget of pounds45 million and almost the whole of the Tunbridge Wells area's health service .sx The hospitals will become virtually an autonomous unit , answerable only to the Secretary of State for Health .sx Managed by a common board of directors , they will gain greater freedom to borrow money , dispose of assets , set wage levels and choose which services to provide .sx In fact , as intended by the government , Tunbridge Wells Health Unit will take on many of the attributes of a private business .sx But although still funded by tax payers money there is little provision to ensure the public will have any influence on the way it is run .sx Nor is there any guarantee that local residents will even be able to learn what is being done with their health service and their money .sx The present situation is already far from ideal .sx The public part of Tunbridge Wells Health Authority's last quarterly meeting took a mere 24 minutes .sx But if local hospitals do opt out of health authority control they will only be obliged to meet in public once a year for what is feared to be a very bland public relations affair .sx As for the rest of the year , the Department of Health says it will be up to " each trust to determine whether it wishes to open its routine meetings to the public or Community Health Council representatives .sx " .sx In other words not even the statutory patients' watchdog will have the right to know whether the local hospital is about to go bust .sx Nor , with a new tendency towards restrictive contracts as well as professional inclinations towards confidentiality , will the press and public be able to rely on staff blowing the whistle when things go wrong .sx It may well be that managers of any local self governing trust welcome open dealings with the public and allow healthy relations to flourish with the community .sx But at a time when the Prime Minister is promoting his Citizens Charter , this potential for secrecy in what is Western Europe's largest employer is unacceptable .sx PLANS FOR new supermarkets invariably raise the hackles of anyone living close to the site .sx Objections also come from local traders who fear the threat of additional competition , and from some members of the wider community on traffic and environmental grounds .sx For their part , the developers usually try to sweeten the pill by offering to build leisure halls or sports facilities alongside their new shops and huge car parks .sx But this suggestion is often attacked as " bribery " by the opposition .sx Following the recent opening of new stores recently in Tunbridge Wells ( Sainsbury ) and Uckfield ( Tesco ) we now have plans for another Tesco at Pembury , and a Co-Op at Southborough .sx In both new cases , there is a concerted attack on the plans which may well persuade the borough council to refuse planning permission .sx But if this happens , appeals and public inquiries are likely to follow , which could overturn the local decision in favour of the shopping giants .sx In each and every case , there are arguments for and against , and however many people object to a new supermarket , far more people would use it once built .sx So it would be quite wrong for the Courier to come out for or against any particular scheme ; better that we report fully on all the arguments and allow proper planning procedures to decide the issues fairly and squarely .sx But a few general comments are offered on the merits of such schemes , as food for thought .sx Firstly , supermarkets are often criticised for killing off smaller shops with more personal service .sx But whereas some small shops are excellent and very friendly , others are tatty and uninviting .sx Similarly , some supermarkets are unkempt with poor stock control and long check-out queues , but others are clean , well-stocked , and brimming with good service that makes shopping a pleasure instead of a chore .sx Secondly , supermarkets are a boon for the one-stop shopper , with a handy car-park outside making it easy to drive off with a month's provisions .sx