1.1.1 Local Plan coverage for the whole of the Borough was provided previously by the Medway Towns Local Plan (adopted June 1992), the Tonbridge and Vicinity Local Plan (adopted December 1993), the Medway Gap and Vicinity Local Plan (adopted March 1994), and the Malling Rural Area Local Plan (adopted October 1994). These plans had a time horizon to 2001 and were prepared in the context of the Kent Structure Plan 1990.

1.1.2 The Tonbridge and Malling Borough Local Plan has been prepared as a review of the above four plans and rolls forward planning policy for the Borough to the year 2011. The reasons for preparing this Plan were:

- Government requires all local planning authorities to prepare plans covering the whole of their administrative area under the terms of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991). The four existing local plans therefore had to be drawn together in one document.

- Kent County Council undertook a Third Review of the Kent Structure Plan to roll forward strategic guidance for the whole county to 2011. A new Local Plan for the Borough was needed to take account of and carry forward the revised strategic planning context provided by the Kent Structure Plan adopted in 1996.

- Since the Borough Council’s previous plans were prepared and adopted, there have been significant changes in Government planning policy, particularly with regard to environmental concerns and sustainability (see section 2.3). These had to be taken into account by the Borough Council in preparing this Local Plan.

1.2.1 The Local Plan comprises two main parts: the Written Statement and the Proposals Map:

The Written Statement contains policies which are shown in bold type and are prefixed by a 'P' and a policy number. The written statement also contains text to support and explain the policies. Certain policies are of a complex nature and need to cover matters in more detail than other policies. These cross-refer to a number of Policy Annexes included at the rear of the Written Statement. These Policy Annexes form part of the relevant policies. Additional supporting material of a non-policy nature is contained as Appendices to the Written Statement for information only.

The Proposals Map indicates on an Ordnance Survey base the precise areas to which site specific policies apply and these are cross-referenced to the written statement by a policy number. The Proposals Map is reproduced in colour on both sides of three A1 sheets. The entire Borough is shown at 1:12,500 scale and with larger scale insets for Tonbridge Town Centre at a scale of 1:5,000 and West Malling, Aylesford, Hadlow, Borough Green and Snodland at a scale of 1:2,500. The extent of policy areas and allocations of land for development are defined by the outside of a thin black line apart from the confines of the urban areas and rural settlements where the boundary is defined by the inner edge of a heavy black line.

1.3.1 The following procedures have been undertaken to achieve adoption of this Local Plan:

Pre-deposit consultation - the Borough Council published a 'Scoping Report' in October 1994 to undertake initial consultation on the range of matters that needed to be addressed by the Local Plan. Copies of the Scoping Report were circulated to all statutory consultees and to a wide range of other interested parties including local amenity and interest groups, service providers, other public authorities and development interests. Responses to the Scoping Report were formally considered by the Borough Council and taken into account in formulating the content of the Deposit Local Plan. The Borough Council published a document in support of the Local Plan entitled 'Environmental Statement No 1' which set out its responses to comments made at the pre-deposit consultation stage.

Deposit of the Plan - The Local Plan was placed on deposit between 2 February and 15 March 1996, during which 1145 duly made objections were received. The Borough Council considered the nature and content of each objection and published a response in October 1996. This document, entitled 'Response to Objections and Informal Comments' set out some 236 Amendments in the Plan which were proposed in response to the objections. The Amendments were placed on deposit on 8 October 1996 for six weeks during which a further 31 counter objections were received.

Local Plan Inquiry - An Inquiry was held between 4 February 1997 and 30 April 1997 to consider unresolved objections to the Plan. The Inquiry consisted of 25 formal sessions and 17 informal hearings. 238 objections were dealt with at the Inquiry and 907 objections were dealt with by written representations. The report of the Inquiry Inspector was subsequently received on 11 March 1998 and was published by the Borough Council on 16 April 1998.

Modifications - The Borough Council considered the recommendations of the Inquiry Inspector and published a number of Modifications to the Plan in August 1998. These were placed on deposit for a six week period between 7 August and 18 September 1998. 114 representations on the Modifications were received consisting of 44 objections and 70 supporting representations.

Adoption - In the light of objections received to the Modifications to the Plan, the Borough Council published a number of further changes on 13 November 1998. As none of these further changes were considered to materially affect the content of the Plan, the Borough Council proceeded to adopt the Plan. Notices of the intention to adopt the Plan were first published on 13th November 1998 and, as no Direction was received from the Secretary of State after a period of 28 days, the Local Plan was formally adopted by the Council on 15 December 1998.

1.4.1 The Development Plan comprises the Kent Structure Plan, prepared by Kent County Council and the Borough Council’s Local Plan together with the Minerals Local Plans and Waste Local Plan prepared by the County Council. Section 54A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires that decisions on planning applications should be made in accordance with the Development Plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The policies of this Local Plan have therefore been written on the basis that they should indicate where, and in which circumstances, development proposals should be permitted or not permitted.

1.4.2 It is for the Borough Council and other decision makers to decide whether, given the specific circumstances relating to an individual planning proposal, there are other material considerations which may override policies of this Plan. Other material considerations must be genuine planning considerations related to the use of land and to the development proposal itself. In addition, other material considerations may arise where policies have been superseded by a change in Government policy or where other circumstances have altered sufficient to render the Development Plan policies no longer of relevance to the development proposal.

1.5.1 There are a number of places within the Written Statement, both in specific policies and supporting text, that refer to other documents produced by the Borough Council or other organisations, which do not form part of the Local Plan. A number of the Council's documents are regarded as Supplementary Planning Guidance, whilst others are informal supporting information. PPG 12 states that Supplementary Planning Guidance should be consistent with the Local Plan, clearly cross referenced to relevant policies and made publicly available. A list of Supplementary Planning Guidance, informal Borough Council supporting documents, and background information produced by other bodies is set out in Appendix C. All such information is available for inspection at the Borough Council’s main planning office.

1.6.1 Planning Policy Guidance Note 12 advises that Development Plans should be subject to environmental appraisal. This is a process by which policies and proposals are systematically evaluated against a set of environmental criteria to determine whether there are positive or negative impacts arising. The Borough Council has been fully committed to incorporating environmental appraisal processes as an integral part of the formulation of the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Local Plan.

1.6.2 The Local Plan Scoping Report published in October 1994 included an appraisal of the policies and proposals of the existing adopted Local Plans to assist in the identification of key issues to be reviewed in the context of the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Local Plan. The environmental appraisal of existing policies and proposals was subject to consultation in conjunction with the Scoping Report in order to provide verification of the Borough Council’s appraisal.

1.6.3 The 'Environmental Statement No 1' included a summary of the main points arising from the consultation process on the Scoping Report. In addition, it contained a detailed environmental appraisal of the key development proposals and policies of the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Local Plan as set out in the deposit plan. The environmental appraisal was used to inform the preparation of the plan, formulate and shape individual policies and proposals, and provided background information in support of the Local Plan strategy.

1.6.4 A further environmental appraisal of the Modifications to the Plan was undertaken and the results incorporated into the Modifications document published in August 1998. This sought to test the impact of the proposed changes to policies and proposals of the Plan when compared to those of the deposit plan. At the Further Changes stage, November 1998, the appraisal indicated that none of the additional changes proposed would result in any significant impacts.

1.7.1 The scope of the Local Plan is limited to matters concerning the use and development of land and cannot therefore deal with matters that are unrelated to these aspects. Matters involving the management of land, for example, fall beyond the scope of the Local Plan and are therefore addressed by other means such as the Borough Council’s Nature Conservation Strategy.

1.7.2 Responsibility for the implementation of the policies and proposals of the Local Plan is not confined to the Borough Council. There are a variety of agencies and bodies both in the public sector and private sector who will be responsible for carrying out development. However, the planning system does not itself produce development; proposals may be permitted or refused but other than by general encouragement, constructive development control or where the Borough Council is itself the developer, there is little the Borough Council can do to ensure proposals are actually implemented. The availability of resources will also dictate the degree and the rate of new development over the plan period. There is no certainty therefore that the proposals of the Local Plan will be implemented. The rate of development is generally beyond the direct control of the Borough Council, being determined in the main by national economic, rather than local, circumstances.

1.8.1 Planning Policy Guidance Note No 12 states that effectiveness of Local Plans should be monitored to ensure that policies and proposals remain relevant and up to date. In order to provide an appropriate framework within which effective and consistent monitoring of the Local Plan can be undertaken, the Borough Council has adopted a number of 'aims' for each of the individual subject areas contained in the Local Plan and these appear at the beginning of each chapter. These aims are complemented by a series of 'performance indicators' listed at the end of each chapter which will be used to assist in the evaluation of the Plan’s performance in meeting the aims. The Borough Council will undertake to review performance of the Local Plan for each subject area by monitoring indicators on a regular basis.

1.9.1 The general timescale of this Plan runs from 1996 to 2011 and it is expected that the majority of its proposals will be implemented by 2011. However, there are certain proposals which have a longer time horizon than this, for example, Green Belt policy, which will extend beyond 2011. For housing land availability purposes, firm proposals are in place for the period 1996-2006 in line with the Kent Structure Plan. However, provision for the period 2006-2011 will be subject to review in the context of the next review of the Structure Plan to be prepared in the light of revised Regional Planning Guidance.