About the Proposal
Esquire Developments wants to build over 400 homes, a nursery/maybe a GP, and sports facilities right in the heart of the ecologically sensitive High Weald National Landscape (AONB).
Two linked planning applications mean double the damage: loss of community spaces, unlikely to deliver GP surgeries and no schools, harm to wildlife, and a green light for building in protected countryside.
The sites at risk:
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St Mark’s Recreation Ground
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Bayham Road (formerly Town Flowers)
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Chase Farm (3G rugby pitch + 100+ parking spaces)
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Pinewood Farm (housing, nursery, self-build plots)
All sit within the AONB, beside ancient woodland, within flood zones, and habitats for protected species — and the scheme crosses two councils: Tunbridge Wells and Wealden.
When the applications go live, we’ll publish an interactive map and simple step-by-step guide to help you object.
This Land Has Value Beyond Profit
🔍 Protected Community Asset
We have secured Asset of Community Value (ACV) status for St Mark's Recreation Ground (location of the Tunbridge Wells Rugby Football Club). An ACV is a legal protection under the Localism Act 2011 which lets communities ask for the sale of important local land or buildings to be paused and gives the community the chance to buy them. We have notified Wealden and Tunbridge Wells Councils that we intend to submit a bid for St Marks. We have until 3 February 2026 to raise the money before the site is sold to the developer and we lose this important green space.
✊ Take Action
We’re showing Esquire and TWRFC that this land isn’t just open space — it’s our space, with deep history and vital wildlife. Every pledge and message adds pressure and proves our community won’t be ignored.
A Better Plan for St Marks and the High Weald
400+ Homes. No infrastructure. A polluting pitch. Zero respect for our community.
Urgent Appeal — £15,000 Target
We need to raise £15,000 now to hire expert planning consultants to take apart the Esquire application and defend our community. Without this, our ability to fight back is at serious risk. Every pound matters — please give what you can today and help us stop this destructive and opportunistic proposal.
🌿 What Is the Green Weald Alliance?
The Green Weald Alliance CIC is a not-for-profit group of local residents united to protect the heritage, countryside, and biodiversity of the High Weald National Landscape.
We back sustainable development that meets genuine local needs without overwhelming roads, schools, or public services. What we oppose is speculative expansion that threatens our environment and rural identity.
Run by volunteers, every penny we raise goes directly into campaigning. With nearly 4,000 residents already supporting our petition, we’re standing up for a community-led future — one that values people, place, and sustainability over short-term profit.
📮Submit an Objection
Not open yet — but coming soon. Esquire’s planning application is expected shortly. Once it’s live, we’ll give you clear, step-by-step guidance so your objection makes an impact. Together we can stop 400+ homes being built without schools, GP surgeries, or the infrastructure our community needs.
✍️ Sign the Petition
Stand up for the High Weald and for proper planning. Thousands have already signed — add your name now and help us reach 4,500 signatures. Every name sends a clear message: we welcome the right development, but we reject speculative sprawl that damages our countryside and strains local services.
💌 Donate Now
Please help us fuel the fight to protect our countryside. Your gift funds expert planning advice, legal action, and local outreach — every pound makes a difference. Esquire has already ordered a hedge destroyed during nesting season. Help us stop them causing lasting harm to this protected and precious landscape.
Key Objections
Wildlife at Risk
Homes England’s land acquisition has already led to habitat destruction—hedgerows vital to dormice, bats, and nesting birds were cleared during breeding season. The Firecrest — a rare bird protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act — has already lost habitat here. The site borders ancient woodland and a crucial wildlife corridor, yet ecological surveys remain flawed. Help us hold developers accountable and safeguard our local wildlife.
Plastic Pitches, Silent Woods
A floodlit 3G pitch on the edge of ancient woodland will devastate local wildlife in the heart of the legally protected High Weald National Landscape. Fifteen-metre floodlights will disrupt nocturnal species, while rubber crumb infill sheds billions of microplastics that leach into soil and streams. Scientists are now finding these same microplastics in the human brain. Add in chemical run-off into nearby habitats: this isn’t protecting nature — it’s destroying it, dressed up as “biodiversity gain.”
Flooding and Drainage Dangers
The site suffers from frequent waterlogging and poor drainage. Historic reservoirs and springs lie beneath the land, yet no hydrological assessment has been done. Southern Water’s new policy bans surface water discharge into sewers, but developers haven’t shown how they’ll manage runoff. Without proper planning, neighbouring homes could face increased flood risk. Let’s demand responsible development.
Infrastructure Overload
Adding 400+ homes will place impossible strain on services already stretched to breaking point. Schools and GP surgeries are at full capacity, and the local water system — which collapsed during the 2022 Tunbridge Wells drought — has no resilience for further demand. Southern Water’s sewage network raises real risks of flooding and pollution, while energy and digital infrastructure remain underdeveloped. Approving this scheme would impose unsustainable burdens on Kent communities, while Wealden reaps the short-term benefit.
Gridlock Guaranteed
Local roads like the A267, Bayham Road, and Bunny Lane are already at breaking point, bringing hundreds more vehicles onto roads that can’t cope isn’t planning — it’s gridlock by design. Add the traffic from commercial rugby events and the Green Weald risks becoming a permanent car park.
Even Kent County Council acknowledges a full Transport Assessment is needed.
Stand with the Community – Act Now
🛑 Make Your Objection Count
🔍 Locate the planning application
Wealden District Council
Visit the Public Register at planning.wealden.gov.uk and search by application number or site address Use our objection letter template to ensure you cover all key points in a structured format.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Go to the Planning Application Search at tunbridgewells.gov.uk and log in or register
Other Useful Links
Editorials and Investigations
The test virtually guarantees a 20% profit margin on every development, regardless of what is sacrificed in order to achieve it. In the meantime, unneeded executive homes will continue to be the majority of what’s built, despite being unaffordable, and the country’s shrinking carbon budget for getting to net zero by 2050 will continue to be frittered away to maintain the flow of money from developers to the main political parties. -- Ian Tysh
Green party councillor with planning and environment portfolio at Wealden district council
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