Repairs to the Pantiles Colonnade Are Due to Start Before the End of September

Repairs to the historic colonnade along the Upper Walk at the Pantiles are due to start before the end of September, according to a report Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's Cabinet considered on Thursday 24 September. The owner, TargetFollow, has permission for the work and says it will go column by column, with the most urgent repairs finished within 12 months.

The colonnade, the covered walkway of columns along the Upper Walk, is part of a row of Grade II listed buildings, so repairs need Listed Building Consent. The council granted it on 23 June (reference 26/01036/LBC). It covers repairs to the colonnade's columns and the structure above them, and it is what the council now counts as the plan of action for keeping the colonnade in good condition.

The consent sets out repair methods for the structural work above the columns, for the steel columns and the remaining wooden ones, for the individual columns numbered 24 to 27 and 53, 57, 58, 59 and 61, and a paint repair specification for the columns on the upper level. Each column has its own problems, so the work will be done pillar by pillar. TargetFollow's consultants have marked some elements as more urgent, and the plan is for those to be done within 12 months. The council says it can't give exact timings, because further problems could turn up once the work begins. Only one member of the public commented on the application, and it was a message of support.

For the businesses and residents under and around the colonnade, the practical question is disruption. The report says TargetFollow is mindful of it, understood to have put up signs saying businesses are open as usual, and will tell affected residents and businesses before work starts. Cabinet members have also spoken with TargetFollow, residents, and both retail and food and drink businesses, and the report says everyone regards the upkeep of the Pantiles, and the colonnade in particular, as vitally important.

On 22 April, Full Council passed a motion asking the council to press TargetFollow to agree a specific, measurable maintenance plan for the colonnade, and to confirm to Cabinet by October 2026 whether one is in place. Cabinet's answer on Thursday was yes: it noted the report, and agreed that Cabinet Members will give further updates by announcement at future Cabinet and Full Council meetings before a final written report goes to Full Council.

The repairs come as TargetFollow is selling its whole Tunbridge Wells estate, as we reported in August. The report says Cabinet Members were assured that "business as usual" would apply and that repair work will continue while the sale goes through. Separately, officers are arranging a workshop with stakeholders to start shaping a long-term vision for the Pantiles, which would go to public consultation as part of the borough's Local Plan Review. Source: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Cabinet report, 24 September 2026