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 some helpful insights on their own plan development, and agreed to help us with some technical training. They are progressing with their new Local Plan, which runs up until 2033. A draft of the document is expected to be on published the TWBC website by early June 2018, and they will continue discussions with Parish Councils, Neighbourhood Planning teams and other stakeholders. TWBC plan formal public consultation between November 2018 and January 2019. The target date for the Tunbridge Wells Local plan approval is March 2019.

The 2017 ‘Call for Sites’ has been closed by TWBC and there are 14 potential sites in Benenden. Our Housing Supply Working Group have developed assessment criteria and will now assess each of the TWBC ‘Call for Sites’ locations for suitability for development. TWBC will be undertaking their top down site assessment over the next few months; our assessment will add local knowledge and a degree of granularity. It’s worth noting that at this stage it will be for TWBC to make final decisions on planning permissions, having taken our assessment into account. We plan to circulate an explanation of the process and criteria to all those on our e-mail circulation list, and the Housing Supply Working Group will present their criteria at our planned Village Exhibition on 7th April in Benenden Memorial Hall.

We have decided not to undertake an additional local ‘Call for Sites’ as the outcome of the TWBC call appears to exceed our housing planning needs. This may change depending on outcomes from the site assessment process, so we will review if needed.

We are also progressing the Neighbourhood Plan website; we should have this ready to share with you all well before the Village Exhibition in April. And congratulations to Hawkhurst; who have had their Neighbourhood Plan approved at a local referendum with over 90% approval.

There is still a great deal of work to be done and we would still like more people to get involved. Above all else, please put 7th April in your diary; we want to get your views as we go along.

Paul Tolhurst
Chair – Benenden Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee