Five Oak Green Housing Scheme Approved on Tied Vote - On Land Rejected for the Local Plan Over Flood Risk

An outline planning application for homes at Finches Farm, Five Oak Green Road, has been approved by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council - but only after a split committee vote ended 4-4, with the Chair's casting vote the deciding factor.

The site had previously been rejected as an allocated housing site in the borough's Local Plan specifically because of flood risk. Councillors were told that opinion had since changed following a detailed hydraulic modelling assessment and consultation with the Environment Agency, which raised no objections to the scheme. Southern Water flagged a minor capacity issue with the sewage network, which officers said could be addressed through a planning condition. South East Water, despite being consulted, did not respond at all - though officers noted that, as a statutory undertaker, the company is legally required to provide a water connection to any approved development regardless.

Two residents spoke against the scheme and raised concerns about flooding; the applicant's agent and a Capel Parish Council councillor spoke in support, noting the scheme's contribution to the council's housing requirement. Some Members pushed for a further, independent flood risk assessment beyond what had already been submitted, but were told no statutory consultee - not KCC Highways, not the Environment Agency - had raised an objection, and a detailed drainage assessment was already on file. With the committee split exactly down the middle, the application was only approved because the Chair used their casting vote in favour.

This was an outline application only - the principle of development, not a detailed scheme - so a full application covering the actual house designs, final drainage layout and access detail will still need to come back to the council before building can start. The approval is also subject to a Section 106 legal agreement. It's a notable contrast with the council's own £42 million flood defence investment completed last month at Tonbridge and Hildenborough, a reminder that flood risk management in West Kent is being tackled on two fronts at once - new defences for existing homes, and contested decisions about where new ones should be built at all.

Source: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council