TMBC Local Plan

1. Housing Need and Strategic Context

• Housing Target: Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council (TMBC) is required to build a total of 19,776 houses by 2042 (1,097 units per year). 5,242 are already in progress or allocated, leaving 12,664. The Local plan only identifies 12,694

• Site Constraint: Although the developer (Tarmac) suggested a potential capacity of 3,800 homes, TMBC are trying to restrict to 1300

• Development Tier: The area is within Tier 2 of the settlement hierarchy, placing it near the top for development due to high housing demand that Tiers 1-4 cannot satisfy.

• Brownfield vs. Greenfield: Only 13% of the plan relies on brownfield development; insufficient sites have come forward.

 

2. Affordable Housing and Policy Leverage

• Standard Requirement: The Local Plan requires 40% of new housing to be affordable (not sold privately). There is potential to increase the affordable housing requirement to 50%. The site is on the edge of the "Grey Belt" (Green Belt adjacent to Green Belt).

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3. Planning Process and Timeline

• Local Plan Necessity: The Local Plan is essential; without it, TMBC would have to spend resources defending individual speculative applications.

• Current Stage (Regulation 18): This current stage is Regulation 18 consultation.

• Next Stage (Regulation 19): The next stage is Regulation 19 (expected Summer next year). The consultation responses from this stage will be updated and used in infrastructure conversations. This is where it goes to the planning inspectorate (arm of the Government) that checks for consistency with national policies.

• Submission and Adoption: TMBC must submit the plan to the Inspectorate by December 2026, with adoption expected about a year later.

• Site Defence: If a site is removed at the Regulation 19 stage, the Council must formally defend that decision to the Planning Inspectorate. Therefore better to try to ensure protections for Holborough than reject

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4. Infrastructure and Site Constraints

• Access: Access to SN1 will be via the Peter's Bridge roundabout

• Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP): The Council must create an IDP—a formal list of all infrastructure required for the development to be acceptable—based on public feedback, quality of content of feedback and volume is important, but must be high quality.

• Environmental Buffers: The "Red Line" boundary does not mean building must reach the edge. The policy mandates that 10% of the land must achieve Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

• Bund/Open Space: The existing bund (western) cannot be built on, this is the stirp of land directly behind the housing on the left of Holborough Lakes, looking at the picture. However this could change if responses aren’t clear about protecting this. The policy suggests creating a large area of semi-natural, publicly accessible open space within the development.

• Planning Advice: Submissions must stick to key planning reasons such as environmental, protection highways, flooding, and infrastructure.

 

Detailed notes from the Meeting on Friday 12 December can be viewed here - TMBC Local Plan Notes