More than 200 potential development sites have been identified under a call for sites initiative.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has completed its exercise of collecting details for areas that could be suitable for construction in the future.

The government asked all local authorities to identify areas which have the potential to sustain housing or employment growth.

More than 200 sites have been suggested for Tonbridge and Malling since the appeal was launched in April 2014 and closed on Tuesday .

The Green Party has called on the council to prioritise development of brownfield land, as it feels a number of sites included on the list are unsuitable for development.

“The fact that sites have been put forward does not mean that they will be allocated for development...” - Howard Rogers, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

The first public consultation on issues and options for development are set to take place early next year.

No decisions about sites will be made, but the consultation will be an opportunity to start the next part of the process to assess what has come forward and outline the future timetable for what happens next.

Howard Rogers, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s cabinet member for planning and transportation, said: “It is very important for everyone to understand that the call for sites exercise is something we are required to do in gathering evidence for the Local Plan.

“The fact that sites have been put forward does not mean that they will be allocated for development.”

Green Party members have been examining potential sites and insist that a number of them should be automatically dismissed, including areas on the flood plain near Hildenborough, farmland near Tonbridge and green space near West Malling.

Howard Porter, Green Party parliamentary candidate in the general election, said: “We are calling on the council to protect our communities from unnecessary and intrusive development.

“Local infrastructure, including transport, schools and water services cannot accommodate development on the scale envisaged by this government.”

A public examination of the Local Plan will be held by an independent inspector which is likely to go ahead in the autumn of 2017.