Government directs Tonbridge and Malling to press ahead with housing plan consultation

Residents in Tonbridge and Malling will get their say on the borough’s draft Local Plan after the Government directed the council to proceed with a formal public consultation, overriding a decision by elected councillors not to do so.

The council had refused to approve the plan for the next stage, known as Regulation 19, because it wanted a guarantee that water supply could support every new home the Government wants built across the borough.

Regulation 19 is the formal stage at which residents, businesses and other interested parties can submit comments on the proposed plan before it goes to an independent examiner. It sits immediately before that examination.

Full Council voted on 3 September 2026 not to send the draft plan forward. The consultation was expected to open on 10 September 2026 following the Government’s direction to proceed.

Councillor Matt Boughton, the council leader, said councillors wanted a guarantee of water supply for every property the Government wants built across the borough. The council argued the intervention cut directly against the devolution agenda — the principle that local authorities, not Whitehall, should be making these calls for their own areas. Councillor Boughton said the Government should not use its powers to overrule democratically elected councillors and insist the council proceed with the Local Plan on these numbers, despite there being no guarantee of water supply.

The council said it would now work with both the Government and South East Water as the process moves forward. It also called on residents to tell the Government directly that more homes should not be planned than local water infrastructure can actually deliver.

Full details of how to take part will be published on the council’s website.

The consultation is expected to open on 10 September 2026. Residents can find out how to take part on the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council website.