Woodland At Speldhurst Hill Speldhurst Tunbridge Wells Kent Data via plota.co.uk

26/01985/TPO - Tree Preservation Order Awaiting decision

Proposal

TPO: Goat Willow (T1) & Silver Birch (T2) remove Data via plota.co.uk

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View original council record ↗Last checked 7 Oct 2026, 07:06

Street View

Application progress

✓

Received

7 Sept 2026

✓

Validated

10 Sept 2026

✓

Consultation

23 Sept 2026

Decision

Expected by 5 Nov 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. Plota predicts a decision around 17 Oct 2026, from Tunbridge Wells's recent tree and landscaping works.

Comments are open until 14 Oct 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Documents 1

Site constraints 4

Green belt: London

Inappropriate development needs very special circumstances.

Green belt policy allows a short list of exceptions, such as limited extensions and replacement buildings. Anything else needs very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the harm. Some green belt land can count as grey belt, where it does not strongly serve the green belt's purposes. The council decides this in its green belt assessment or on each application, so we do not mark it here.

Read the government guidance ↗

High Weald National Landscape

Great weight to conserving the landscape; major development restricted.

Previously an area of outstanding natural beauty, which is still the designation in law. Since 2023 authorities must seek to further its purpose, not merely have regard to it.

Agricultural land, grade 3b

Not best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s), which most planning maps still show, had this area as grade 4. The predicted grade is Defra's current estimate; only a site survey settles it.

Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.

Also on the record

5 listed buildings within 150 m.

Not affected

Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council: Tunbridge Wells
Application type: Tree Preservation Order
Received: 7 Sept 2026
Validated: 10 Sept 2026
Ward: Rusthall And Speldhurst
Parish: Speldhurst Parish Council
Case officer: Show
Target decision: 5 Nov 2026
Decision level: Delegated Decision
Applicant: Show
Agent: Chartfords Trees Ltd

Decision outlook

Day 29 of the 56-day target. Tunbridge Wells usually decides tree and landscaping works by day 37.

prediction

Day 2927 days to the 56-day target

98%decided within 8 weeks

98%approved

349decided in the last year

Plota live figures for tree and landscaping works decided by Tunbridge Wells in the last twelve months, from validation. Tunbridge Wells decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference: PP-15202771
Planning Portal ref: PP-15202771
Comments by: 14 Oct 2026
Site or press notice: 23 Sept 2026
Statutory expiry: 5 Nov 2026
Env. assessment: No

Tunbridge Wells

Planning Authority Score

8.7/10

Excellent

#13 of 296 councils

Relevant to this application:

Householder decisions

Tunbridge Wells is one of the fastest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #26 out of 296. Only 25% of applications have the time limit extended, well below the 41% national average - the council usually decides on time. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (96%) than the national average (90%).

Among the fastest councils in England

for householder decisions

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance

Tunbridge Wells decision statistics

Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026

93%

Overall approval rate

Above avg (87%) #69 of 296

96%

Householder approved

Above avg (90%) #63 of 296

84%

Decided in 8 weeks

Above avg (63%) #26 of 296

25%

Extended time limit

Below avg (41%) #32 of 296

85%

Minor dwellings approved

150 decided (1-9 homes)

82%

Major dwellings approved

11 decided (10+ homes)

96%

Change of use approved

47 decided

1,178

Total decisions

83 refused in the year to March 2026