A public inquiry into a town’s draft Local Plan resumes tomorrow (Tuesday) when a proposal to drop plans for a 2,100-home garden village will be discussed.
Planning inspector Matthew Birkinshaw will sit in the council chamber at the Town Hall in Tunbridge Wells to consider the responses made by the borough council and others to the initial findings he made following earlier hearings.
In December last year, the borough council voted to abandon its original plans to create a 2,100-home garden village at Tudeley amid fears that it could not satisfy the various concerns expressed by the inspector at the first hearings back in 2022.
Tomorrow, starting at 10am, Mr Birkinshaw will consider matters concerning the greenbelt and sustainability with their importance to proposals for a new garden village at Tudeley high on the list .
However, in the afternoon the council’s strategy for the town centre will be discussed, in particular the future of the former ABC cinema site, land at Colebrook House, Hawkenbury Recreation Ground and land at Mabledon House
On Wednesday, starting at 9.30am, the inspector will consider the council’s strategy for Tudeley village, including plans for a Five Oak Green bypass.
The Save Capel campaign, and its barrister Simon Bell, will be lobbying against a new garden village, but the Hadlow Estate, and developers Persimmon Homes, Castle Hill Developments and Crest Nicholson will be there to put forward opposing views.
On Thursday, the inspector will consider the strategies for Cranbrook and Hawkhurst, particularly in relation to land north of Birchfield Grove, land at Limes Grove, and at Turnden Farm, in Cranbrook.
The public can attend the hearings, although there is no right to speak unless invited to do so by the inspector.
However, all the hearings will also be live-streamed online on thislink.
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The borough council has agreed that if Tudeley is deleted from the plan, the Local Plan should only cover 10 years instead of the normal 15 years.
One question the inspector will be asking is whether the council should commit to re-examine a garden village at Tudeley in the next review of the plan.
