Plans to knock down and replace desolate town centre offices have been sent back to the drawing board by a local council.

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has voted to reject plans to turn the former AXA offices in the town centre into a new neighbourhood of 44 homes.

Proponents described the designs as “beautiful”, but others claimed that “only people with a million or more” would be able to afford them.

Philips House and Eynsham House in Tunbridge Wells town centre have sat empty since 2023, after housing health insurance giants AXA Health for about 30 years.

Kier Properties and the Housing Growth Partnership (HGP) then submitted plans in May last year to knock down the brutalist blocks, and replace them with 44 homes, saying there is a “much greater need for family housing” than office space in the town.

At a meeting of the council’s planning committee on April 2, the final call on the bid for 38 townhouses and six flats was meant to be made.

Planning officers were recommending members approve the plans, praising the “highly sustainable location” and use of brownfield land.

“We believe this is a terrific scheme – it will transform a redundant site with beautiful family homes,” Kier Managing Director David Bridges told the committee.

Planning agent for the developers Nick Alston also spoke in favour, saying: “Some people did raise concerns – this is typical in any major planning application.

“However the overwhelming message was supportive, we need to build more homes in Tunbridge Wells.”

There were 73 representations sent in to the council’s planning department, of which 62 were in favour.

However, Paul Avis, chairman of Royal Tunbridge Wells Civic Society claimed at the meeting these were “mobilised by housebuilders’ pressure groups.”

“We were surprised and disappointed by the frankly mediocre scheme presented by the applicants,” he added, calling for “more housing” on the site.

Cllr Hugo Pound (Lab) could not attend the meeting, but in a statement read on his behalf, he said approving it would be “denying young people the opportunity to live and work in town.

“This is effectively an exclusive development in the middle of town which only people with a million or more will be able to afford – a development that very few genuinely local people want or need.”

He too argued for flats instead: “The more flats we build in town, the less we have to build in rural areas.”

No affordable homes were set to be built on the site as it would make the scheme “unviable”, but the developers agreed to contribute £363,000 to providing affordable housing elsewhere.

The six flats were meant to be sold as shared ownership properties.

A planning officer stressed that the site is allocated for homes in the local plan the council is currently working on.

However, Cllr Brendan Le Page (Lib Dem) said: “I’m worried about the fact that 70% of the houses are four bedrooms and the fact that’s going to exclude a mix of families and a mix of incomes from living in the centre of Tunbridge Wells.”

“Flats are what are needed,” added Cllr Alex Britcher-Allan (Lab).

The council’s planning committee ended up voting unanimously to defer the plans, asking for a new footpath to be added, and changes to the designs of the homes.