Listing Decision Clears Way for Royal Victoria Place's Ely Court Overhaul

Plans to remodel Ely Court, part of the wider overhaul of Royal Victoria Place, can now move forward after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport decided not to add the former Friendly Societies Hall and ground-floor shops at 3-7 Camden Road to the national list of protected buildings.

The decision follows a recommendation from Historic England that the building should not be listed, and comes with a Certificate of Immunity from Listing (COIL) attached - meaning it cannot be reconsidered for listing for several years, giving the council and its development partners certainty to proceed. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council said the building's distinctive frontage will still be retained and enhanced within the redevelopment regardless of the listing outcome, so that "an important part of Camden Road's historic character continues to be reflected" in the finished scheme.

Ely Court is the half of the Royal Victoria Place scheme earmarked for leisure, food, drink and entertainment - including a boutique cinema, which the council says a borough-wide digital survey of 2,860 residents found strong support for. It sits alongside the separate Palm Court phase, which is due its own first Cabinet vote on 22 October.

Cllr Justine Rutland, the council's Cabinet Member for Economic Development, called the listing decision welcome clarity: "The Ely Court and Royal Victoria Place proposals can now progress through the planning process," she said, adding that the plans would "help create new opportunities for leisure, dining and entertainment, supporting businesses and encouraging more people to spend time in the town centre both during the day and into the evening." Alex Green, chief executive of the Royal Tunbridge Wells Together Business Improvement District, welcomed the news on behalf of the BID's members, calling it "a significant investment in the core of our town."

It's a genuine hurdle cleared rather than a green light for construction - Ely Court's own budget and delegation decisions are still due at Cabinet next April, a full six months after the Palm Court vote - but for a scheme that has spent years as visualisations and consultation results, removing the risk that a key building could be protected out from under the plans is real progress. Source: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council