Changes to planning rules may give a housing developer the chance to build 87 homes on current green belt land in what it describes as a “logical extension” of a village.

Vistry Homes has applied to Tunbridge Wells council for permission to build on two agricultural fields to the north of the A21 at Pembury.

The site lies outside the Pembury limits-to-built development boundary but within the High Weald National Landscape Area and is also within the green belt - all three of which would normally weigh against any development.

But the borough council is in the process of submitting a new Local Plan to the government for approval that deliberately removes the land from the green belt and allocates the site for 80 homes.

Vistry argues that its slightly higher number of 87 homes is justified because the borough does not have a five-year housing land supply and is only building affordable homes at around half the rate it should. It was 47% in the year 2022/23.

It says the site would provide 35 affordable homes across the 4.91-hectare plot, in a mix of sizes including one, two, three and four bedroom homes.

There is additionally a pocket of designated Ancient Woodland in the south-west corner of the site, but Vistry says this would be safeguarded with a 25m buffer zone in which no development would be permitted.

The estate would be accessed via a new road off Hastings Road. The existing access would stay for emergency use only.

A total of 196 parking spaces are proposed.

However, the scheme has not gone down well with Pembury ward councillor David Hayward (Pembury and Capel Independents).

Cllr Hayward, who lives at Stanam Road in Pembury, said that the local highway structure was inadequate to take the traffic from an extra 87 homes.

He said: “Pembury is already gridlocked at peak times, which will be exacerbated by the permissions already granted [and not yet built].

“There is no highway infrastructure, current or proposed, that has room for this application.”

Cllr Hayward criticised the developer’s traffic assessment submitted with the application as “containing many inaccuracies” and said it was “effectively, a cut and paste job” from a nearby application at Hubbles Farm.

Jason Kitcat, who lives in Hastings Road, agreed with Cllr Hayward, saying: “Traffic is very severe in the mornings and evenings going to and from Pembury.

“It affects bus reliability so much that on many mornings my children are late to school in Tunbridge Wells.”

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The application, prepared by DHA Planning on behalf of Vistry Homes, states: “The site is currently outside, albeit adjacent to, the boundary of the limits to built development as defined in the current adopted Local Plan.

“Notwithstanding this, the site represents a logical extension to the village of Pembury and is allocated for development. Furthermore, it is within the new limits to built development in the Submission Draft Local Plan.”

Details of the Pembury application can be found on the Tunbridge Wells council website, under application number 24/03141.