Foundation, Dowding, Frant & Royal Victoria Houses, 31A, 31B & 51 The Pantiles, The Corn Exchange (nos 1-17…Foundation, Dowding, Frant & Royal Victoria Houses, 31A, 31B & 51 The Pantiles, The Corn Exchange (nos 1-17 Ground Floor Only) & Sussex Mews The Pantiles Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5TE Data via plota.co.uk
Proposal
Change of use from office, retail and service, food & drink to Use Class E (commercial, business & service) & Use Class F1A (education); additional use of ground & basement floors of no. 31b to hairdressers, glazed canopy over centre of Sussex Mews & glazed canopies to Eridge and Frant Houses (as granted under planning permissions & ) Data via plota.co.uk
Application progress
Approved on 16 Apr 2026 · Committee Decision · Last checked 1 Aug 2026
Planning committee
Decided by Tunbridge Wells Planning Committee on 15 Apr 2026. Earlier deferred on 11 Mar 2026.
Approved unanimously
As officers recommended.
- Officers advised approval because the proposal retained employment use, improved flexibility and caused no identified harmful impacts.
- No public comments were received, while consultees raised no objections or comments on the change of use.
- Members unanimously approved the application subject to the report’s plans, conditions and informatives.
Source: Plota analysis of Tunbridge Wells's committee minutes of 15 Apr 2026.
Documents 13
Decision & officer reports 3
Application forms 1
Consultation & comments 6
Associated applications 2
Part of
- FullChange of use from office, retail and service, food & drink to Use Class E (commercial…This application26/00051/FULL
Site constraints 4
Show the other 40 with distances
- 16 mThe Corn ExchangeGrade II
- 18 m31 and 31a, the PantilesGrade II
- 21 m43, the PantilesGrade II
- 21 m39 and 41, the PantilesGrade II*
- 22 m51-55, the PantilesGrade II
- 27 m33, the PantilesGrade II
- 29 m35 and 37, the PantilesGrade II
- 38 m48, the PantilesGrade II
- 41 m50 and 52, the PantilesGrade II
- 41 mThe Old FishmarketGrade II
- 41 m21-29, the PantilesGrade II
- 42 mPavement to the PantilesGrade II
- 43 m38-46, the PantilesGrade II
- 43 m54 and 56, the PantilesGrade II
- 44 mTiled Pavement to the PantilesGrade II
- 46 mThe Sussex Arms Public HouseGrade II
- 51 mColonnade between Nos 28 and 38Grade II
- 52 mThe Swan HotelGrade II
- 52 mGlen Albion Sussex House Sussex PlaceGrade II
- 54 mDuke of York Public HouseGrade II
- 54 m8-14, Nevill StreetGrade II
- 63 m6, Nevill StreetGrade II
- 65 m26 and 28, the PantilesGrade II
- 68 m60-72, the PantilesGrade II
- 68 m11-15, the PantilesGrade II
- 70 m4, Nevill StreetGrade II
- 75 m9, the PantilesGrade II
- 81 m18, THE PANTILES (See details for further address information)Grade II
- 83 m7, the PantilesGrade II*
- 90 m12-16, the PantilesGrade II
- 90 m2, Nevill StreetGrade II
- 96 m5, the PantilesGrade II
- 97 mYork CottageGrade II
- 99 mThe Bath HouseGrade II
- 102 m8 and 10, the PantilesGrade II
- 103 m3, the PantilesGrade II
- 106 m1, the PantilesGrade II
- 108 m2A, THE PANTILES (See details for further address information)Grade II
- 116 m2, the PantilesGrade II
- 136 mThe Church of King Charles the MartyrGrade I
Checked on 11 September 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.
Every application in Tunbridge Wells - and every UK council - as a live feed, an API, or a bulk CSV export.
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Important details
- Council
- Tunbridge Wells
- Application type
- Full Application
- Postcode
- TN2 5TE
- Received
- 9 Jan 2026
- Validated
- 15 Jan 2026
- Ward
- Pantiles
- Case officer
- Show
- Target decision
- 12 Mar 2026
- Decision
- Application Permitted
- Decision date
- 16 Apr 2026
- Decision level
- Committee Decision
- Applicant
- Show
- Agent
- KLW
How this decision compares
Decided in 91 days from validation, 37 days slower than Tunbridge Wells's median of 54 for changes of use. Approved, as 72% of changes of use here are.
Plota live figures for changes of use decided by Tunbridge Wells in the last twelve months, from validation. Tunbridge Wells decision record →
Consultation & key dates
- Alt. reference
- PP-14609064
- Comments by
- 11 Feb 2026
- Site or press notice
- 28 Jan 2026
- Env. assessment
- No
Historical activity at this location
25 nearby applications on record - archival context, not part of the live application.
Nearby activity
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%).
Track this application
Foundation, Dowding, Frant & Royal Victoria Houses, 31A, 31B & 51 The Pantiles, The Corn Exchange (nos 1-17 Ground Floor Only) & Sussex Mews The Pantiles Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5TE
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Referenced application
Council archive
1 - 9 Sussex Mews Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent TN2 5QJ
Change of use of units 1 - 9 Sussex Mews (and courtyard area) to the new 'town centre' Use Class E (incorporating commercial, business and service uses) and implementation of Canopy over Central Portion of Sussex Mews as approved under TW/12/03193
- Received
- 1 Jul 2021
- Decided
- 28 Sep 2021
- Outcome
- Approved