Skip to main content
MyTWBC

Brownfield Register for Tunbridge Wells borough

One of the key elements of central government’s agenda to boost housing supply is the commitment to bring suitable brownfield land back into use for housing.

In 2017, the government introduced a new requirement for local planning authorities to compile and publish a Brownfield Register, listing all brownfield sites considered suitable and available for housing development, having regard to criteria set out in Regulation 4 of the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017.

The Brownfield Register comprises a nationally prescribed standard set of information that is reviewed annually and made publicly available. The Register seeks to provide certainty for developers and encourage   investment in local areas and assisting in supporting economic growth.

In accordance with the criteria, any sites for consideration must be:

  • previously developed land (as defined in Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework), referred to as brownfield land
  • capable of supporting development of five or more dwellings, or be at least 0.25 hectares in size
  • suitable for residential use
  • deliverable within five years
  • achievable (no ownership or legal issues)
  • free from any constraints that cannot be mitigated

The Register is in two parts: Part 1 comprises all brownfield sites that the Council considers appropriate for residential development in accordance with the above criteria; and Part 2 comprises any site in Part 1 that the Council has decided should benefit from a grant of permission in principle for residential development under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) first published Part 1 of the Register in December 2017.

No Part 2 is currently being prepared but this will be kept under review.

In accordance with the above Regulations, requiring a review of the Register on an annual basis, the TWBC Brownfield Register has been reviewed on an annual basis since its first publication in November/December, starting with its first review in 2018.

Each review includes an assessment of whether there has been any change in circumstance over the last year for each site. For example, whether development is underway, the site is built out or an alternative non-residential use has since been implemented. Where there is such a change in circumstance for any site, it is removed from the list. Sites are also removed where the planning permission is no longer extant and for which no further planning applications have come forward. Those sites with no change and still considered to be compliant with the Regulation 4 criteria above are retained on the revised list.

As for sites on TWBC’s previous Brownfield Registers the list also consists of unimplemented site allocations from the Tunbridge Wells Site Allocations Local Plan 2016 and unimplemented extant planning permissions. This includes extant planning permissions taken from the Council's housing land supply evidence, a database of all known permitted and allocated residential development sites across the Borough, as of the 1st of April 2024. Since 2021 appropriate proposed site allocations in the Tunbridge Wells Submission Local Plan 2021 are also included in the list.

The updated version of Part 1 of the Register can be viewed below.

Submitting a brownfield site

If you would like a site to be considered for inclusion in Part 1 of the Register, please submit details using our online form. Any sites submitted will be considered for inclusion at the next scheduled review date.

Viewing the Register

Part 1 of the Tunbridge Wells borough Brownfield Register for 2024/25 can be viewed below.

Brownfield Register Part 1
File 36.6 KB

Data protection

Please click on the link below to find out details about what information we collect from you, what we do with your information and who it might be shared with.

Brownfield Register privacy notice

Further information

Back to top