Contractors are set to plaster a community with yellow lines to tackle parking problems in a move that’s been described as “shameful”.

Residents of Kings Hill are bracing themselves as Tonbridge and Malling council implements Phase A of its Kings Hill Parking Review.

To date, Kings Hill has been free of yellow lines, though parking restrictions exist on some unadopted roads on the estate.

Phase A aims to tackle parking problems on the adopted distributor roads and junctions and to deter any parking displacement the new restrictions might cause.

Phase B, which will address parking on the residential roads, has yet to be finalised.

The 28 roads affected initially include sections of Alderwick Grove, Alexander Grove, Alfriston Grove, Alton Avenue, Bancroft Lane, Bovarde Avenue, Braeburn Way, Clearheart Lane, Cobham Drive, Crispin Way, Dawn Lane, Discovery Drive, Eden Way, Forest Way and Fortune Way.

Also Gibson Drive, Holly Way, Kendall Avenue, Kings Hill Avenue, McArthur Drive, Melrose Avenue, Pearl Way, Quindell Place, Rougemont, Ruby Walk, Sunrise Way, Tower View and Winston Avenue.

Full details can be viewed here.

The plans have been in development ever since a survey carried out by Kings Hill Parish Council in 2018 first suggested residents regarded parking as a problem.

They have been through several public consultations and modifications but were finally approved by Tonbridge and Malling Joint Transportation Board in March this year.

Andy Bracey, the borough council’s parking manager, said residents would see a range of double and single yellow lines, school Keep Clear signs, and zig-zag road markings.

The changes will come into effect on August 25, although the council may issue warning notices rather than fines for a grace period after that.

Mr Bracey said: “Some people may not want the changes, but they are aimed at enforcing the requirements of the Highway Code and improving accessibility throughout Kings Hill.”

In the last public consultation, the council received 461 responses, of which 125 were in favour, but nearly two-and-a-half times as many people - 336 - were against.

Nevertheless, the council concluded: “The objections should be noted but set aside.”

For the time being, Fortune Way and Milton Street will be unaffected because KCC is separately considering making them one-way streets.

Loading and unloading will still be permitted, as will parking by Blue Badge holders, but Mr Bracey conceded there would be some residents who would no longer be able to park outside their own homes.

Michael Sebti has been a Kings Hill resident for 18 years.

He lives in Edgar Close but is also a director of a management company that looks after seven properties overlooking the east section of Discovery Drive where double yellow lines are due to be painted.

He said: “I am an environmental designer - my job is to properly consider environmental space, making it beneficial to the end user by combining function, operation, health and safety and aesthetics.

“The imminent arrival of a raft of yellow ribbons that will soon adorn many of the main routes into Kings Hill will, by a long way, negatively impact the character of Kings Hill.

“Until recently, the development avoided the use of conventional signs and road-markings to provide a more humane environmental experience for residents.

“The implementation of Phase A will damage the relative harmony that exists between buildings, landscape and the residents.

“It will ubiquitously blight the main routes into and out of the development.”

He said worse was to come when parking on the sideroads was also controlled.

He asked: “Where will those cars then park?

“Wrapping Kings Hill in painted yellow ribbons contradicts what the original architects of the development had planned, designed and built.

“What is quite unforgivable is that Tonbridge and Malling council has seemingly not taken into account any consultation with the local community.

“The blanket carpet-bombing of the estate with double yellow lines is shameful.”