An application has been lodged for a mixed residential and retail development comprising of 337 apartments (including 111 affordable units) and 4 retail units together with the creation of new public spaces, parking and environmental and ecological improvements on the site of Sovereign House, Sovereign Way, Tonbridge. This forms part of the overall town centre regeneration proposals in the Tonbridge & Malling Local Development Framework.
A public exhibition was held at Sovereign House on 1 December 2007 to enable local residents and other interested parties to view the proposals to re develop the site and ask the project team questions. The aim of this exercise was to receive feedback from residents and community representatives so that we could take into consideration local views and incorporate this feedback wherever appropriate. The exhibition was attended by 55 people, including Councillors, members of Tonbridge Civic Society, Tonbridge & District Railway Travellers Association and local residents.
The exhibition consisted of presentation boards which displayed and discussed the constraints and opportunities presented by the site, design objectives and concepts of the scheme and the current proposals. Brochures were also prepared for attendees and distributed at the exhibition.
A comments form was provided to all attendees and everyone was encouraged to complete these in order to record their views and provide us with valuable feedback on the proposals. The exhibition was staffed by representatives from Oracle Residential, Tonbridge Sovereign House Ltd, RPS Planning, JSA and PDA who talked attendees through the displays, responded to questions and sought feedback.
A wide variety of comments were made on topics such as layout, design, parking, affordable housing and transport. In general the comments were positive and supportive. The main concerns lodged were relating to the height of the tower, impact of views, parking and transport