Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council Releases Draft Regulation 18 Local Plan

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has recently published its Draft Regulation 18 Local Plan. The new local plan will provide the overall vision and strategy which will shape the area up to 2042. The plan also contains the draft policies that will enable the vision to be met.

The central objective of the plan is to balance the delivery of approximately 19,000 new homes and a minimum of 361,500 sqm of employment floorspace within the plan period with managing the impact on town, villages and the countryside and ensuring the delivery of key environmental improvements.

As part of the plan preparation the Local Authority has assessed around 500 potential development sites. Those sites that are considered suitable and deliverable are included in the Draft Plan.

The Regulation 18 version of the Draft Local Plan can be found here. The consultation period opens on the 10th November 2025.

Alongside the Local Plan consultation, the Council will be undertaking another ‘call for sites’ exercise. This provides an opportunity for landowners, developers and communities to submit sites within the borough that may be suitable for development. This development is not limited to housing. Sites are sought for nature recovery, leisure facilities, employment uses, community uses and more. Brownfield sites are particularly called for.

The Rural Planning Practice team is well placed to provide an objective assessment of a site’s potential for development and would be happy to have informal conversation with anyone in the borough who may be considering the potential of their land or buildings.