The site sits within Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC), which is responsible for preparing local planning policies and determining planning applications in the area.
The East Malling Trust considers the site to be a highly sustainable location with close proximity and good accessibility to and from existing amenities and public transport, which can be enhanced further through the development proposals. The site is also outside of significant environmental designations such as any National Landscape (formerly called AONBs), SSSI or Green Belt. As such the site represents an optimal and very sustainable location for residential development in planning and place making terms.
TMBC has adopted a series of planning documents that form its planning policies. These comprise:
All of TMBC’s planning documents are extremely dated and much more than five years old. The council does not have an up to date five year housing land supply as required by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The age of the adopted development plan documents and the lack of a required housing land supply means that TMBC’s policies which restrict the supply of housing are considered outdated. Therefore, policies in the NPPF become key in the consideration of planning applications.
In 2014, TMBC commenced the preparation of a new Local Plan to cover a local plan period up to 2031. Between April 2014 and September 2015, TMBC had a Call for Sites Exercise where landowners could put forward land to be considered for inclusion in the Local Plan for future development. TMBC included the site in its Strategic Land Availability Assessment (SLAA) which formed part of the evidence base for the Local Plan. At that time, the SLAA concluded the site to be suitable, available and achievable for residential development.
To support the preparation of its draft Local Plan, TMBC undertook a number of plan making stages. Between 1 October 2018 and 19 November 2018, TMBC consulted on a Regulation 19 draft Local Plan. This draft Local Plan proposed new policies identifying areas for development. It included Policy 33 which identified the site as an Area of Opportunity which could be released for housing development once certain highway improvement works had been completed.
Local Plan examination hearing sessions were held between 6 and 8 October 2020. These focused on legal compliance matters of the preparation of the Local Plan including the duty to cooperate. On 22 October 2020, the Inspectors wrote to TMBC stating they had significant concerns in respect of legal compliance. The Inspectors of the TMBC draft Local Plan issued their final report to TMBC in June 2021 recommending that the draft Local Plan not be adopted, due to a failure of legal compliance in relation to the duty to cooperate. Subsequently, the Local Plan was not adopted by TMBC and it was withdrawn.
The inclusion of the site in the previous draft Local Plan is a significant indication of the direction of travel that TMBC considers Bradbourne as a suitable location for new homes.
TMBC is preparing a new Local Plan to cover the period 2021-2040. Over this timeframe, the emerging new Local Plan has identified the housing need in the borough to be 15,941 new homes or 839 new homes per annum.
The Bradbourne site can contribute towards meeting this housing need. In September 2022, TMBC consulted on a Regulation 18 Local Plan Consultation Document. This document prepared by TMBC identified the site as having the potential to deliver 1,621 new homes, indicating it is considered a good location to deliver much needed new homes in the borough.
The scheme is designed as a landscape-led proposal with a school and community hub at its heart. Existing trees will be retained wherever possible, and a significant number of new trees planted. The scheme commits to providing a biodiversity net gain of 10%, supporting wildlife and the environment. All the relevant building regulations and standards in place at the time the houses are built will be met, such as electric vehicle charging, high levels of insulation and low water usage.
The landscape is integral to the development, creating a scheme that has been sensitively designed, responding to local landscape character and contributing to a strong sense of identity. The proposals seek to retain as much of the existing vegetation as possible, including tree and hedgerow boundaries and includes buffers to protect the ancient woodland to support site biodiversity and landscape structure.