A council leader has said he is "really confident" the government will reduce his borough's housing target of around 16,000 new homes.

Speaking during an online consultation event on Tuesday17, Tonbridge and Malling's Cllr Matt Boughton said: "Delivering 16,000 new homes would be a real challenge."

"But I have been speaking to the government about that and they are currently reviewing their housing policy.

"I am really confident they are going to help us and hopefully reduce our housing target."

The borough has recently completed its Regulation 18 consultation - the first stage - of the adoption of a new iteration of the Local Plan, after its first attempt was rejected by a government planning inspector back in July, 2021.

Cllr Boughton was speaking to explain the borough's new draft Corporate Strategy, which is currently out to public consultation, and to encourage people to give their views.

Cllr Boughton said Tonbridge and Malling had much to be proud of: it had the highest recycling rate of any borough in Kent, and the lowest crime rate. In an independent survey last year, it had been judged to offer the best value for money of all the Kent boroughs.

But he also admitted there had been "challenges," particularly with waste collection and street cleaning.

Cllr Boughton first set out some statistics about the borough: it has a population of 132,600 and covered an area of 93 square miles.

There are 62,000 jobs in Tonbridge and Malling and 84% of the population is "economically active."

The average wage in the borough of £670 a week is "very high" compared with other areas - but so are housing costs, which is presenting the borough with a problem as he said: "Every day more people are getting in touch asking for assistance in finding accommodation."

The borough is responsible for cleaning 1,751 roads, for maintaining 68 CCTV cameras, providing 43 car parks with 3,000 spaces between them, running three leisure centres, a golf course and a castle.

The castle, although a key attraction for the town, is also one its problems as it is very expensive to maintain, and Cllr Boughton suggested a new innovative approach to its use must be found.

He acknowledged that: "The borough has already seen a lot of development - which has brought issues regarding GP services, bus provision and congested roads."

The council leader said the new corporate strategy would set the council's priorities for the future.

He said: "We want a strategy underpinned by innovation, transformation and delivery.

"This will help ensure we can encourage investment in the borough, deliver better housing for local people and make real progress towards a sustainable solution to climate change."

He said: "Our corporate strategy sets out our route to achieving these goals, and I hope residents and businesses will respond enthusiastically to this consultation, sharing their thoughts with us and helping us to develop a strategy that reflects what residents want from the council."

People can contribute to the online consultation here.

Responses must be in by February 10, with the strategy due to be adopted by the council in June.

One member of the public, Nick Collins, questioned how that would work, with the whole of the council up for election in May, but Cllr Boughton said the new council, whatever its make-up, would find it useful to have over-arching strategic guidance based on the pubic's priorities.

The online session ran for 75 minutes, and can be viewed again via the council's webcast page.