The leader of Tonbridge and Malling council is angry that the Government inspectors charged with examining the borough's Local Plan before permitting its adoption look set to pull the rug from under the council's feet.

And he has decided to go over their heads to their boss.

In December, the joint inspectors Louise Crosby and Luke Fleming said the authority has failed to comply with its duty to co-operate with neighbouring authorities in drawing up the plan.

In particular, they said Tonbridge and Malling had not discussed with neighbouring Sevenoaks District Council whether Tonbridge could take any of the emerging 3,392-home shortfall in the housing allocations in Sevenoaks.

The inspectors said: "We consider it a very strong likelihood that there will be no other option other than to invite (Tonbridge and Malling) to withdraw the plan from examination, or, failing that, for us to recommend that the plan be not adopted."

Now council leader Nicolas Heslop (Con) has written to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing.

He said: "The council sent a full response to the inspectors addressing all of their concerns and inviting them to amend their provisional decision."

"We hoped that the inspectors would ultimately accept the points made in our letter, but they have indicated there is a 'very strong likelihood' that they will fail the plan.

"The council is firmly of the opinion that the inspectors have made errors in their approach to the duty to cooperate.

"While the inspectors have formed clear provisional views, the council is in no doubt that the Secretary of State could properly and lawfully take a different view on what is primarily a matter of planning judgment.

"A failure of our submitted plan would lead to a substantial delay in the adoption of any Local Plan in Tonbridge and Malling.

"If this were to happen, it would run directly contrary to the Government’s stated aims of ensuring 300,000 homes a year are delivered through pragmatic Local Plans."

Cllr Heslop said: "We submitted a plan that fully met our housing needs and which would contribute positively to that stated Government aim.

"Failing the plan will do nothing to address the potential unmet need of Sevenoaks, but it will mean that actual housing need in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling will not be met.

"In the absence of intervention, the only other potential recourse open to council would be a legal challenge by judicial review.

"A successful judicial review would cause substantial delay in making the plan. Failure would mean having to substantially recommence plan-making from the beginning."

In conclusion, Cllr Heslop appealed to Mr Jenrick to over-rule his own inspectors.

'We are being absolutely crucified'

He said: "This is clear case for your intervention."

Without a new plan, the council cannot demonstrate it has a five-year housing supply, which first of all gives carte blanche to developers, and secondly puts the council in the firing line for Government penalities.

Afterwards Cllr Heslop said: "Our Local Plan was agreed by my council in January 2019.

"Two years later we are having to argue with the planning inspectorate over why our local plan should not be delayed."

Cllr Heslop said: "Meanwhile, it is a developers charter and we are being absolutely crucified.”

Councils are now being penalised not only for not granting "enough" housing applications, but also if enough houses have not been built, something they see as grossly unfair, since they have no power to compel housing developers to build out permissions.

The 2020 housing delivery test results announced on January 19 showed that 55 councils nationwide were now subject to a "presumption in favour of sustainable development" as a result of failing to meet a new target requiring them to ensure that 75% of the homes required in their area over the past three years had been built.

A presumption in favour of development will make it very difficult to reject any planning application.

A further 20 councils have been told to identify further land for housing after delivery fell below 85% and 31 councils with delivery below 95% have been ordered to produce action plans setting out how they will rectify the situation.

The latter category includes Tonbridge and Malling which delivered 91% of its required homes over the past three years. It had built 2,036 homes out of a target of 2,240.

Tonbridge and Malling fared well compared with its neighbours: Sevenoaks achieved only 60% of its target, Tunbridge Wells only 85%.