Councillors voted 5-1 for 125 homes at Spratsbrook Farm on Eridge Road, with 50 affordable and a 16ha park. What the A26 crossing row and £1.4m deal mean.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s Planning Committee has voted to approve 125 homes at Spratsbrook Farm on Eridge Road. The vote was five for and one against.
The decision was taken on 16 September. The committee’s draft minutes, now published, record the vote and the full list of conditions. The application is 26/00094/FULL, made by Spratsbrook Estates Limited, care of the housebuilder Dandara.
Permission is not final yet. It depends on a Section 106 legal agreement being signed first. On 6 October the council’s planning register still listed the application as “Awaiting decision”.
What will be built
The site is on the A26, behind the back gardens of Ramslye Road. The Royal Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall Conservation Area is across the road. The site sits in the Pantiles ward. The land was taken out of the Green Belt for housing in the borough’s Local Plan, adopted in December 2025, under policy AL/RTW 16.
The officers’ report sets out the scheme:
- 125 two-storey houses on about 5 hectares, with one entrance from Eridge Road
- 27 two-bed, 61 three-bed and 37 four-bed homes
- 50 affordable homes, 40% of the total, split 60% social rent and 40% intermediate
- 6 self-build plots, which revert to ordinary sale homes if nobody takes them up
- 243 car parking spaces and 385 cycle spaces
- about 16.5 hectares of the 21.5 hectare site kept as open space, including a rewilded meadow, a community orchard, allotments and play areas
The open land on the north-west side stays in the Green Belt and the High Weald National Landscape. It borders the High Rocks scheduled monument, an Iron Age hillfort with prehistoric rock shelters.
A small part of the site crosses the county boundary into Wealden. That part carries one of the drainage ponds and more of the parkland. It needs its own permission from Wealden District Council, under reference WD/2026/0118/MAJ, which the report lists as pending.
The objections
The report records 46 letters of objection. Among the concerns raised:
- road safety at the new junction on the A26, and at the Broadwater Down turn
- water supply, with residents reporting poor pressure and supply failures
- the loss of farmland and of countryside used by walkers
- harm to the High Rocks monument and to wildlife corridors
- strain on schools and GP surgeries
- the combined effect with large schemes planned just over the border in Wealden
Frant Parish Council asked for a proper crossing on the A26 before anyone moves in. It called the planned pedestrian refuge island “unpractical”. Two of the three Pantiles ward councillors, Chris Hall and Pamela Wilkinson, objected in writing on heritage, wildlife, highways and infrastructure grounds. The Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society said it was “disappointed” by “a standard suburban layout of detached houses dominated by hard-standing for cars”.
Ten speakers addressed the meeting. Objectors included the Dry Wells Action group and Wealden District councillor Jessika Hulbert.
Why councillors said yes
Kent County Council, as the highway authority, withdrew its holding objection before the meeting. Officers told the committee it now had no objection on road safety grounds.
The minutes record that councillors still challenged that view. Some said KCC’s recorded average speeds of 33 and 34mph were “not a true reflection” of traffic on the A26. Others called the design “lacking in imagination and ambition”.
On water, officers said South East Water had confirmed in April 2026 that it could supply the housing allocated in the Local Plan. The council could not change that position unless the company did. The minutes record members’ view that the scheme was “an important contribution towards housing needs”, despite concerns about water and road access, “neither of which were within the Council’s powers to change”.
The committee added two notes to the permission. One asks KCC and Dandara to explore “a more robust crossing on the A26”. The other asks for the open space to be designed to keep motorcycles out.
What the developer will pay
The Section 106 agreement will secure about £1.44 million in named contributions, plus a cycle route payment not yet costed. The largest items in the minutes are:
| Contribution | Amount |
|---|---|
| Secondary school places, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells | £666,158.75 |
| Hawkenbury Hub youth facilities | £376,470 |
| GP and other NHS healthcare within 3 miles | £183,938 |
| Special educational needs places | £69,978.75 |
| A264 Pembury Road corridor, plus a 10% uplift | £55,440 |
| Tunbridge Wells Commons Conservators | £26,250 |
| Household waste recycling centres | £24,266.25 |
| Adult social care | £22,610 |
| Libraries, children’s services and adult education | £21,361.25 |
The cycle route payment has no figure yet. Officers told the committee it involves third party land, so talks with landowners are still going on.
What happens next
Once the legal agreement is signed, the council issues the decision notice. The report gives an agreed deadline of 18 December 2026. The permission then lasts three years. Before building starts, Dandara must have details approved under 29 conditions, including a construction management plan, the off-site highway works, drainage and archaeology.
What it means for you
- If you live on Ramslye Road or Broadwater Down: the conditions include a construction and environmental management plan, which sets working hours and lorry routes. It must be approved before work starts. Watch the application page for it.
- If you walk the fields: the 16 hectare park will be public, and its management is to be fixed in the legal agreement. Officers said community groups have been asked for their input.
- The A26 crossing is not settled. The committee’s note is a request, not a condition. The detail of the junction goes through a separate Section 278 highways agreement with KCC.
- The Wealden half is still open. Comments on WD/2026/0118/MAJ go to Wealden District Council, not Tunbridge Wells.
For the rest of this year’s big schemes, see our Tunbridge Wells planning news page.
Sources: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Planning Committee, draft minutes of 16 September 2026; officers’ report on 26/00094/FULL, Spratsbrook Farm, on the meeting page; planning register entry for 26/00094/FULL, checked 6 October 2026.
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