66 Homes, Not 100: What Taylor Wimpey's Barming P3 Scheme Actually Got Approved

The third phase of Taylor Wimpey's Barming development, on land off Broomshaw Road and Rede Wood Road, has been approved for 66 homes. That's the figure in the actual planning decision, issued on 6 November 2025 - lower than the "up to 100 new energy efficient homes" the company's own development website describes for the same phase, and well under the 118 units the outline permission allowed for back in 2022.

Barming sits in Maidstone, but this particular phase doesn't fall under Maidstone Borough Council's planning authority. The wider site was split into three phases when outline permission was granted in 2022: phase one, completed in 2023, and phase 2A - known as Oakapple Place, currently under construction - both sit within Maidstone's boundary and were approved by Maidstone Borough Council. Phase three, the one approved in November, sits just across the administrative line and falls to Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council instead. It's the kind of boundary quirk that rarely matters to anyone except the planners drawing up the committee agenda - until a single development ends up needing sign-off from two separate councils to get built.

Taylor Wimpey's reserved matters application - the detailed follow-up to the 2022 outline permission, covering the actual layout, design and access rather than just the principle of development - was submitted to Tonbridge & Malling in July 2024 under reference 24/01084/RMMAJ, for 66 dwellings plus associated access, parking, open space, play space and landscaping. It was approved in November 2025. The company's own Barming P3 webpage still describes the proposal as "up to 100 new energy efficient homes," a figure that reflects earlier-stage plans rather than what was actually submitted and approved. Both numbers sit under the 118-unit ceiling set by the outline permission, so there's no suggestion anything irregular happened - just a reminder that a housebuilder's own marketing copy can lag behind the paperwork that actually gets decided.

The site has had organised local opposition for at least seven years, under the banner "Save Barming Pea Fields" - a Facebook group, now with over 690 followers, formed to contest development on what residents describe as agricultural land locally known for pea growing. The campaign couldn't stop the outline permission being granted, but it has kept up a steady presence through each subsequent phase, including raising traffic and green space concerns at Maidstone Borough Council planning committee meetings for the earlier phases.

With reserved matters approved, Taylor Wimpey is now working through the pre-commencement conditions attached to the permission - a habitat management and monitoring plan, required under condition 7, was submitted to Tonbridge & Malling for sign-off in January 2026. Clearing conditions like this is typically one of the last steps before groundwork starts. Taylor Wimpey's own timeline points to new homes being delivered "from 2027 onwards," which - now that approval is in place - looks to be back on track.

Sources: Taylor Wimpey, Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council planning register, ref. 24/01084/RMMAJ