New leisure centre planned for Tonbridge

Ambitious plans to redevelop an area of Tonbridge town centre in Kent have been unveiled.

Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council has published a masterplan for the area, setting out a vision for providing new homes, a replacement leisure centre, a GP practice, improved walking routes and a hotel.

The proposals will see council-owned land, at present mainly used as car parks, being transformed in a way that would “energise the high street and rediscover the relationship between the town, the river and its open spaces”.

Key aspects of the multi-million-pound scheme include a replacement leisure centre at Sovereign Way Mid car park, a modern GP practice on the site of the Sovereign Way East car park and 122 new homes at Sovereign Way North car park featuring flood-resilient design.

Plans also include a hotel at Vale Road car park and a riverside park area to make more of the tributary, which forms part of the site.

The masterplan was presented to a meeting of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s cabinet. Members gave the go-ahead for a public engagement exercise this summer to be undertaken to obtain views from residents and businesses. Following feedback from the public, the planswill be reviewed before a decision is made on whether to formally adopt the masterplan proposals.

Council leader, Matt Boughton, said: “These plans offer an opportunity to unlock huge potential for Tonbridge, making our town a more attractive place to live and work.”