What do you like about living in the borough? 

What needs to change? What should continue?

We want your views to be the foundation of our future plans. To share your thoughts, take the survey at the bottom of this page!

This consultation closed on 20th March 2022. 

About the borough

With a population of 118,900 people, the borough of Tunbridge Wells encompasses a unique combination of towns, villages and parishes, as well as the urban area around Royal Tunbridge Wells town centre.

What does your borough council do?

It is useful to understand the context in which we operate. We collect your Council Tax, but keep less than 10 pence in every pound. The rest goes to other organisations including Kent County Council, Kent Police and Kent Fire & Rescue, who lead on things like transport, education, crime, health and social care. Parish and town councils also make a charge for the services they deliver, like playgrounds, extra litter collection, allotments and maintaining local green spaces.

We don't always have the power to make changes that may be important to you and there are also some things we are required to do (like building the right number of new homes). We have to balance priorities against a significant budget gap going forward and this sometimes means making difficult decisions.

What we do

(TWBC has responsibility for some but not all services in the borough)

• Community safety and CCTV
• Refuse collection and recycling
• Housing and homelessness
• Planning and Building Control
• Licensing
• Leisure centres
• Theatre and Museum
• Parks and open spaces
• Crematorium and Cemetery
• Elections
• Parking

What others do

(organisations with responsibility for other services in the borough)

• Education and children
• Libraries
• Trading standards
• Social care and health
• Household waste recycling centres
• Roads and public rights of way
• Police and crime
• Fire and rescue services

See the right-hand menu for the full list of services provided by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

What have we delivered and what are we working on?

We've spent the last five years working to actively improve the facilities and services we provide, whether that's by becoming more sustainable as a Council, or through the development of The Amelia Scott. We're excited to look to the future and devote resources to making the borough a great place to live, work and visit. Here's a summary of just a few things we've done, are doing, and plan to do.

Local Plan

We have worked on a cross-party basis to develop a Local Plan which sets out how we will plan and manage the delivery of the housing growth we are required to provide and ensure it is supported by the appropriate infrastructure. The Local Plan includes provision for new sporting facilities for the borough.

Climate Action

The Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 with a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030. The Council has nearly halved its carbon emissions, including the installation of solar panels on the leisure centre in St John's and The Amelia Scott, improvements to energy efficiency of the Town Hall and securing over £2m of government funding to decarbonise our buildings.

The Amelia Scott

Work is nearing completion on the £20.6m cultural and learning centre, The Amelia Scott which will attract nearly 500,000 people to the town centre each year and which will house the library, museum, adult education and Gateway service and much more.

Community Facilities

Outside of Royal Tunbridge Wells, we have been working with parish and town councils to deliver a number of community hubs. The Southborough Civic Centre opened in 2021 and work is progressing well on delivering similar facilities in Paddock Wood and Cranbrook.

Future of the Town Hall

We have been working to reduce our occupation of the Town Hall and to sub-let most of the building as co-working space. This will reduce our costs, generate an income and provide much-needed space in a prime location for local businesses, creating jobs and bringing footfall to the town centre.

Royal Tunbridge Wells Town Centre

Over the past five years, we have made the central spine of the town more pedestrian-friendly, completed improvements to the public realm, worked with local businesses to set up a ‘Business Improvement District’ (which provides £450,000 to invest in the town each year) and started work on a Town Centre Area Plan to ensure the future vitality of the town. Whilst we do not own the cinema site, we are pleased that its new owners have announced plans to redevelop the site.

What should we prioritise?

We are proud of the work we have done to support residents through the Covid-19 pandemic, providing vaccine and testing centres and maintaining our core services under difficult circumstances. As restrictions lift and we turn the page into a new year, now is the time to plan for the future. We want you to tell us what we should be working on.

Here's where you come in...

We need you to tell us what you think, and you can do this by taking part in two different ways.

1. You can complete a simple survey, letting us know how feel about the borough as a place to live, work and visit, and what improvements we can make. Your answers will not be seen by others viewing these pages.
2. On the 'Put your thoughts on the map' page you can drag and drop a pin onto the map of the borough to share your ideas for how we could make changes in that area. The pins you add to the map, along with your comments and any images, will be seen by others viewing the page.

You can complete either one or both of the different types of feedback available to you.

All ideas are welcome and will be reviewed as part of the consultation process. if you require the survey in a paper format, please contact consultations@tunbridgewells.gov.uk

What happens next?

The feedback you provide as part of this consultation will form the basis of future engagement activities and plans later in the year, helping to shape the borough around the needs of its residents.

Click the "Follow Project" button to receive updates on this consultation. We'll send you updates of how the data gathered has influenced our plans, and what actions we'll be taking as a result.