UPDATE: Our MP, Mike Martin, has advised us to contact info@RVPfuture.com to make our voice heard. If you have the time, please send an email letting the council know what this snooker club means to you personally – whether it’s your second home, the best place to play snooker in the area or you just love the exhibitions.

Keep sharing the petition, if we get to 6,000 signatures, we'll have powerful evidence of public feeling that could help us get the conversation we desperately need with the council.

The Victoria Snooker Centre in Tunbridge Wells is under threat of demolition as part of redevelopment proposals by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. A design team is currently preparing plans for a planning application due in Easter 2026, with construction proposed for early 2027. This petition calls on the Council to reconsider and protect this irreplaceable, family-run community asset.

Snooker clubs across the UK are under threat of closure and this would be another devastating loss despite the sport's increasingly global appeal. Snooker, pool and darts are inclusive sports that everyone can enjoy and the club is a lively place to play, compete, see live exhibitions and socialise.

It is the largest snooker club in the area, serving generations of local people. Housed in the historic Friendlies Hall, built in 1861 by the Friendly Society Charity, the building has been a social hub for over 160 years. From the Friendlies Club to the Kent & Sussex Club, and since 1995 as the Victoria Snooker Club, its walls hold living sporting history. Championship honours boards dating back to 1930 still hang proudly on the walls today.

It also supports regional leagues such as the Crowborough and district snooker league, established since at least 1952. 

The current owners have sustained the club as a welcoming, inclusive space for people of all ages and backgrounds. Losing it would mean losing a vital community hub, local heritage, a place to play one of Brtiain's most popular sports and a place filled with shared memories.

We urge Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, as current landlord, to listen to the community and work to preserve the Victoria Snooker Centre for future generations.