Objectors to the inclusion of a "garden village" of 2,800 homes at Tudeley in the draft Local Plan put forward by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council are hoping a rival scheme may save them.

A new consortium of landowners and an (as yet unnamed) established housing developer has come to together as Castle Hill Developments (CHD) and proposed an alternative siting for a smaller - but still significant - number of houses.

The Save Capel Group was established to fight both the Tudeley garden village proposal, on land owned by the Hadlow Estate, and other plans to add up to 4,000 homes in a ring around Paddock Wood, many of which would also fall within the eastern end of Capel.

But the executive committee of Save Capel believes the new scheme for a development around Castle Hill would have far less adverse impact than the Tudeley village idea and the group is in the process of asking its members whether it should support Castle Hill - even though that too falls with the parish of Capel - provided of course that Tunbridge Wells council dropped the Tudeley scheme.

The new proposal at Castle Hill is on the Tunbridge Wells side of the A21 and was part of the original ‘growth corridor’ set out by the borough council.

It could be regarded as an urban extension to Tunbridge Wells rather than a new development in the countryside.

CHD is promising 40% affordable housing, ‘starter units’ aimed at first-time buyers, and accommodation for staff at Pembury Hospital.

The Save Capel executive believes that accepting the proposal at Castle Hill would strengthen their hand in fighting development in East Capel, proving that they were willing to accept some development on the right location and were not just "Nimbys."

In a letter to members, the executive said: "The community will have moved from opposition to the currently proposed developments, to supporting a major development that broadly falls within our parish."

The Castle Hill proposals would cover 113 hectares, but only 60 hectares would actually be developed: 37.5ha for housing, 2ha for a primary school, 20ha of public open space and 0.5ha for a village centre. For comparison, the Tudeley plan extends over 170 hectares.

The new site includes an area of ancient woodland that would remain untouched.

It also includes the site of an Iron Age fort that gives the area its name. The Scheduled Ancient Monument too would remain untouched and could even be made more easily accessible to visitors.

However there is a downside. The Castle Hill site both intrudes into Green Belt land and is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, both of which would usually count against development.

The Save Capel executive said: "In an ideal situation, Save Capel would not want to see development on any Green Belt or AONB land.

"However, a reduction in the housing targets that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is working towards is highly unlikely. Moreover, Government proposals to alter the calculation used to set the targets nationally suggests Tunbridge Wells could see a notable increase in those housing figures.

"With the time-scales the Local Plan is working to, we do not believe it possible to convince the borough council to move to a brownfield-only approach to match the numbers earmarked for Capel.

"So we have had to look at sustainability and we believe Castle Hill is a far more sustainable proposal than Tudeley."

The Castle Hill proposal would yield between 1,300 and 1,600 homes, compared with 1,900 for Tudeley, in the period of the draft Local Plan (until 2037), with Tudeley taking another 900 later.

But the most significant "gain" for opponents would be the access, which would be from a new junction off the A21, with hopefully most of the traffic heading towards Tunbridge Wells for work, shopping and leisure, whereas it is expected traffic from the Tudeley proposal would orientate towards Tonbridge, with traffic running along the B2017.

There are also fewer residents who would be immediately impacted by the Castle Hill scheme, claims Save Capel.

The group calculated that within a one kilometre radius from the centre of Castle Hill, there are 29 residential homes and 38 businesses, whereas the figure for Tudeley was 110 homes and five businesses. The Castle Hill site is adjacent to the North Farm industrial estate.

The existence of so many businesses near to the site was a bonus, offering job opportunities that could make the site more "sustainable," said the group.

The seven-member Save Capel executive said: "We believe Castle Hill represents a more sustainable option than Tudeley Garden Village.

"It will require far less new infrastructure, with less negative impact on the area, there will be less flooding risk which will be easier to mitigate; and fewer properties in the immediate vicinity will be directly affected."

Over the past week, the committee has asked its membership to vote on whether to back the Castle Hill proposals.

The deadline for ballots is noon tomorrow (Sunday) with the result expected to be announced on Monday.

Currently there are only 915 homes in the whole of Capel.

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