Tonbridge & Malling Pauses Its Local Plan Over Water Supply Concerns

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has stopped its draft Local Plan in its tracks, deciding at a Full Council meeting on 3 September not to send the document forward for the next stage of consultation. Members raised concerns that there may not be enough water supply to support the level of growth the Government is asking the borough to plan for.

The meeting had been billed as the point at which councillors would approve the plan for its Regulation 19 stage - the formal, legally defined round of consultation that tests whether a plan has been prepared properly and is, in planning terms, "sound", before it goes to a government-appointed inspector for examination. Instead, in the words of council leader Cllr Matt Boughton, members decided the draft "should not proceed to Regulation 19 consultation in its current form".

During the meeting, concerns were raised about whether sufficient water supply would be available to support the housing numbers required to meet the Government's targets, and councillors concluded that this and wider infrastructure questions needed further work before the plan could progress.

Boughton said members had "recognised the significant work undertaken to prepare the plan", but that "concerns remain about water supply and wider infrastructure capacity to support the level of growth required". He said the council would "continue working with infrastructure providers to gather the evidence needed before determining the next steps for the Local Plan".

Council officers will now consider the reasons for the decision and assess what it means for the Local Plan timetable, and the Government will be informed of the outcome. At this stage the council says it is not known whether a Regulation 19 consultation will take place or when it might be scheduled.

The delay carries a cost of its own. The Local Plan is intended to guide where housing, employment and infrastructure go across the borough through to 2042, and until it is adopted the council is left relying on older policies - a position that tends to weaken a council's hand against speculative development it would rather refuse. It also means explaining a fresh hold-up to central government, which earlier this summer stepped in to take over the decision on up to 1,300 homes at East Malling. Residents can follow the position through the council's Local Plan pages. Source: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

The pause did not hold. The day after this vote, the Government issued a formal direction ordering Tonbridge and Malling to proceed with the Regulation 19 consultation regardless, saying it had "reviewed the implications" of the council's decision. The council says the consultation is now expected to open on 11 September 2026, and that it will run it "in accordance with the Government's direction" while urging residents to use it to object to the housing numbers. Our follow-up has the detail: "Government Orders Tonbridge & Malling to Resume Local Plan It Voted to Pause".