Overview

The Council has begun work on a borough wide Local Plan Review(updating the adopted Tunbridge Wells Borough Local Plan 2025), which will include the preparation of a Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Centre Plan within it.

The Town Centre Plan will comprise a planning framework and long-term strategy (up to 2044) and will be prepared alongside inclusive public and stakeholder engagement to determine a vision and strategy for the town centre to ensure its long-term prosperity and.

This is with the aim of allowing it to diversify and adapt to changes, seek sustainable improvements to public spaces and travel and movement, as well as attracting and encouraging investment in high quality and diverse living spaces, working, shopping, learning, leisure and cultural facilities. At the same time, regard will also be had to sustaining and enhancing Royal Tunbridge Wells’ heritage status and historic attributes.

The Town Centre Plan will align with the ambitions set out in the Adopted Local Plan 2020-2038 including Policy 'STR/RTW2: Strategy for Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Centre', which sets out the strategy for the Town Centre providing a framework and requiring a vision for the development of the Town Centre Plan (the full policy wording can be viewed on pages 81-86 of the Local Plan using the link above).

The overall ambition is that the town centre will remain a vibrant, active and attractive place that residents and visitors can enjoy now and in the future.

Further details about the borough wide Local Plan Review, including the Local Plan Timetable, can be found on the council’s Local Plan Review 2029 webpages.

Study area boundary

The area that the Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Centre Plan relates to is shown on the map below (this is based on the boundary defined by Policy STR/RTW 2 in the Adopted Local Plan 2020-2038 as referred to above). It is realised that the town centre does extend beyond this boundary and as such, consideration will be given to the wider setting of the town centre in the production of the Town Centre Plan, however only sites that fall within this boundary can be allocated within the plan.

Early engagement

A series of early engagement events took place in October and November 2022 to discuss the future of the town centre with local people, businesses and other stakeholders. A Town Centre Study and other supporting evidence base documents were subsequently produced in relation to the preparation of the Town Centre Plan. More details about these are available on the council’s  Early Engagement webpage.

Other engagement/consultation

A consultation took place between 23 February and 15 April 2024 on the Consultation on the Draft Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Centre Plan – Vision 2040, the responses to which will be considered and fed into the next iteration of the Town Centre Plan.

Call for Sites

A Call for Sites is currently running until 28 September 2026 as part of the Local Plan Review and the council is keen to hear about any sites in Royal Tunbridge Wells town centre and in other parts of the borough which might be available for development or redevelopment up to 2044. Please let us know if you know of or own a site which you would like to be considered through this process. Further details can be found on the council’s Call for Sites webpage.