Council sells land in Hawkenbury in Tunbridge Wells for Berkeley Homes’ 235 homes and school plan

Council chiefs have sold land which includes allotments in Hawkenbury for a 235 housing scheme and primary school plan.Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has just revealed the deal has been agreed with Berkeley Homes, subject to planning permission.In August 2015, we revealed the contentious plan to sell off the nearly 18 acres of council land.The authority said this morning it could not reveal the price tag of the land because of commercial confidentiality – but it will do at a later stage.Berkeley Homes (Eastern Counties) said a planning application is due to be submitted “imminently”.The houses and two-form school to be built by Kent County Council for the relocation of St Peter’s Primary School in Windmill Court will be on 34 acres south of Hawkenbury Road and east of Maryland Road.The homes will be built on grassland used for grazing, and some 70 council allotments which flank Hawkenbury Road. The school would have access off Hawkenbury Road and should open in September 2018. Twenty-two of the allotment plots are being rented from the council.A public exhibition to show the “final scheme” at Hawkenbury Farm will be held on Thursday and Saturday.The public drop-in sessions will be in the large hall, Hawkenbury United Reformed Church, Forest Road on Thursday (October 20) between 4 and 8pm and on Saturday between 10am and 1pm.Villagers have previously warned of a “population explosion” from the new homes and currently quiet roads being dangerously busy. People reacted strongly to the plans.