Tudeley Village is the long-term solution to borough’s housing crisis

Published 20th November 2023

The Hadlow Estate is asking decision-makers to take a long-term view as councillors consider the next steps in agreeing a new Local Plan for the borough of Tunbridge Wells.

The Estate drew up proposals for a 2,800-home sustainable new community called Tudeley Village as a response to the housing crisis affecting the borough.

It was included as part of the draft Tunbridge Wells Local Plan, a blueprint for the future growth of the borough.

Now planning officers, following guidance from the planning inspector, are recommending a shorter-term Local Plan excluding the allocation for Tudeley. Councillors are expected to make a decision before the new year.

Harry Teacher from the Estate said:

“The housing crisis is still with us, and has got worse since we first started considering drawing up a masterplan for Tudeley Village. The response requires long-term planning to make sure the right kinds of houses are built in the right place, with the necessary infrastructure. Tudeley Village can deliver homes and employment space, and crucially the infrastructure, amenities and services needed to support them. It would be a genuinely healthy, walkable community, unlike the car-centric anonymous development all too typical of the volume housebuilder.”

The vision for Tudeley Village includes:

• 2,800 new homes, in a range of policy-compliant tenures including social, affordable and open market, and in a variety of types and styles drawing on the local vernacular.
• A wide range of amenities and employment opportunities in a truly mixed-use community.
• Open spaces, large and small and formal and informal, inspired by the existing landscape.
• A secondary school and a primary school, as well as a nursery, surgeries, and new sport and leisure facilities.
• An interconnected network of pedestrian, cycle and vehicular routes.

Mr Teacher added:

“Our proposals are inspired by the work of the King’s Foundation and the landowner-led model it espouses that is already bearing fruit elsewhere in Britain. Tudeley Village would be a place its residents would be proud to call home. We would encourage councillors in Tunbridge Wells to consider the long-term needs of the people of the borough, and to make long-term decisions to meet those needs.”