Final Draft of Tonbridge and Malling's Local Plan Published Ahead of Council Vote

The final draft of Tonbridge and Malling's Local Plan has been published, ahead of a vote at Full Council on Thursday 3 September 2026. Councillors will be asked to approve the plan for consultation - the first step towards the document that will guide new homes, employment space and infrastructure across the borough right through to 2042.

The latest draft has been shaped by feedback from the most recent round of consultation, known as Regulation 18, which ran from 10 November 2025 to 2 January 2026 and invited wider views on the issues the plan should address and the options for the borough's future development. That feedback has now been weighed alongside updated evidence and further technical work.

If councillors approve it, the plan moves into Regulation 19 - a more formal stage focused on whether the document has been prepared in line with legal and procedural requirements, and whether it's judged "sound". This is also when residents, businesses and organisations get the chance to make formal representations on what's actually in the plan, rather than just weighing in on broad options as they did at Regulation 18.

Assuming it clears that stage, the council would then consider the representations received and decide whether the plan is ready to go forward for independent examination - after which it, its supporting evidence and all the Regulation 19 representations would be submitted to the Secretary of State.

Details of how and when the Regulation 19 consultation will run are due to be announced once councillors have voted on 3 September. Given how directly a Local Plan shapes where housing and development can and can't happen for the next two decades, it's likely to be one of the more closely watched decisions the council makes this year. Source: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council