Our next event is on Saturday, 29th September, in the Iden Green Pavilion. It’s a drop-in exhibition, so pop along between 10 and 12 am to see the latest update from each of the Working Groups.  Each Group is starting to pull together the work they’ve done over the summer into draft Policies that willRead more about 29th September – Village Update[…]

All the attention has so far been on the planning aspects of the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). However, it has other important sides to it, not the least of which is the impact of any development on the environment. The residents of Benenden have clearly stated, several times, that one of their top priorities is to preserve theRead more about Thinking of View …[…]

At the first public workshop for the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), I decided that as I had been in construction all my working life, I could perhaps contribute most to the Housing Design Group and so this is where I have been concentrating my efforts over the last few months. Our first task was toRead more about Design and the Built Environment[…]

As part of the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), the Business and Local Economy Group have been looking at the way local businesses are evolving in our parish.  In recent times there has been a large decline in the number of local jobs, especially in the farming sector and we have been looking at what opportunitiesRead more about Growing local businesses for local people[…]

The late Peter Davies warned me that the path of the NDP would not be smooth. So many vested interests and competing pressures would become apparent. Well it seems he was right. TWBC have a target of 14,000 additional homes to be built across the Borough over the next 15 years. If they fail toRead more about Challenging Times for Benenden’s Neighbourhood Plan[…]

The NDP team staged their first Village Exhibition on Saturday 7th April.  It was well attended; 129 people signed in at the door (we may need to show that we’re engaging residents), but we know others didn’t manage to sign-in.  The Exhibition gave us an opportunity to share progress so far, and most of theRead more about Two Steps Forward – One Step Back | May Update[…]

On the 7th April we will hold an exhibition of where we are with the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP).  This will be in the Village Hall from 10am to 4pm.  Please do plan to come to this exhibition. It may be helpful if I clarified the position of the 14 sites identified in response toRead more about Pictures from an Exhibition – April update[…]

All five working groups have met, and are getting on with their priority tasks. The Business and Local Economy group are surveying local businesses; and you may have seen members of the Landscape Groups prowling the lanes and hedgerows. On 7th February we met with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Planning Department. They gave us someRead more about February 2018 – progress overview[…]

We have completed our first round of consultation with residents. Village workshops covered: Vision & Objectives Housing Supply & Design Business, Economy, Transport & Infrastructure Landscape and Green Environment Each workshop was well attended with up to 60 residents. The input has helped us identify priority concerns and issues to be tackled, and some localRead more about Benenden Neighbourhood Plan Gains Momentum[…]