Building boom for Malling – but is it in the right place?


THREE public meetings have been held - in East and West Malling and Larkfield - to give residents their first look at draft proposals for future development in the Malling area.


More than 13,000 new homes need to be built across the borough before 2031 and, allowing for planning permissions already granted, sites for a further 6,000 still need to be found.


More than 200 sites were submitted for possible development and officers have given a “green” rating to those considered suitable and deliverable.


Thirty three hectares of employment land and 21 gypsy and traveller sites are also needed.


The final version of the proposals will be published for consultation in September after a period during which


owners and developers can request changes.


So there is still an


opportunity to replace officer proposals with alternative sites.


The proposals can be seen in full on the Tonbridge and


Malling Council website by following links for the Planning and Transportation Advisory Board meeting on July 5.


The maps are not easy to follow, however.


If agreed, the chosen sites will form part of the Local Plan which will set out development proposals until 2031 – providing a total of 13,470 new homes.


community centre, primary school, doctor’s


surgery and a small local centre.


between the River Medway and the railway line.


The second exhibition of the plans to redevelop the former Aylesford Newsprint site has taken place at Church Farm Hall, New Hythe Lane, Larkfield.


Planning consultants acting for the administrators are putting forward plans to use most of the site for


employment land but with the part at the eastern end for housing, including part


The Ditton stream running through the site would be kept as a local feature, the riverside path would be improved and there would be a number of landscaped open spaces, plus access from the Station Road end of the site.


The latest scheme would devote 120,000 sqm of the 100-acre plot to business, while building up to 450 homes on the remainder.


There would also be a


Plans to put housing on a large part of Broadwater Farm are not acceptable, according to county Cllr Trudy Dean.


The Borough officers are proposing an expansion of the green belt from the west of West Malling to the line of West Malling bypass.


But Cllr Dean believes the Green Belt should be extended to New Road, High Street, Chapel Street and Wateringbury Road to separate Kings Hill from West and East Malling, Leybourne and Larkfield.


The largest development site covers the whole of the eastern end of East Malling Research Station from Kiln Barn Lane through to Hermitage Lane and beyond to the A20 at Coldharbour.


These two largest sites could accommodate around 2,000 homes each.


A new A20 bypass is planned through the area to relieve congestion at Hermitage Lane, Quarry Wood and the Hall Road junctions with the A20.


Consultants are still


developing local highway improvements with Kent County Council and these include works to increase the capacity of the junction of Leybourne Way and the A228.


Residents were told it is not possible to link with the M20 but access to the riverside strip could be from the bottom of New Hythe lane (by the old Ferry Inn building - now offices) and the inclusion of housing should mean a reduction in the


number of HGVs using Leybourne Way.


Rumours of dualling of Leybourne Way are unfounded, though developers are proposing a widening of the road at the western end to create a slip road from Leybourne Way into the A228 towards the motorway. (Plan attached)


Planning consultants are expected to submit an outline planning application to Tonbridge and Malling Council later this year.


Highways England will not allow a direct access into the site from the motorway. They demand a minimum distance between motorway accesses and say there is no room for it in this location.


Developers say the


proposed plans will offer even more jobs than previously.


It is proposed to build a further 81 houses on the field between Churchfields and Offham Road.


Cllr Dean said: "The Broadwater Farm proposals are not acceptable as this beautiful area of open countryside will extend Kings Hill beyond the airfield boundary to which it was supposed to be limited.


“The housing proposed for Aylesford Newsprint, I think, is less environmentally damaging than building in the countryside, reducing HGV traffic on Leybourne Way.”


In Larkfield, it is proposed to re-develop the library site in Martin Square. Tonbridge and Malling Council have identified the site as suitable for a housing after the land was put forward by KCC property officers.


However, there seems to be no current move to put in a planning application.


East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council has indicated to KCC the library should be retained.


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