DETAILS are emerging of an extraordinary proposal to build 1,200 homes on Swanmead, in a scheme put forward by a property investment and development company based in Bahrain.
Al Qaseer IS advertising ‘Tonbridge I and II’ at Tanyard TN9 1PP on its website despite the fact the area is routinely flooded. People are being invited to purchase units.
It is understood that a man called Nabil Saud Saud Nabili has bought the site off Cannon Lane and Hadlow Road for £15,000.
When asked about the Bahrain proposition, a spokesman for Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council said: “The Council hasn’t been approached by Al-Qaseer or anyone else suggesting that the Swanmead Sports Ground or any land to the south of Hadlow Road, Tonbridge should be promoted for residential development and no planning application has been received.
“The site is within the flood plain and Green Belt and is not being brought forward through the Local Plan [of suitable sites to fulfil the council’s house building requirement]. It is therefore very unlikely to be successful should an application for housing be made.”
The Al-Qaseer website states: “The land is located on the immediate eastern outskirts of the town of Tonbridge in Kent.
“Tonbridge offers a range of recreational, shopping and educational facilities. It was a market town since the Middle Ages that still buzzes today.”
It describes proximity to the ‘national motorway network’, Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and ‘0.4 miles to the river center’. It also cites the adjacent golf centre.
The promotional literature specifies: “The area of the land is 67.76 acres (27.42 hectares) which is divided into 1200 individual plots.”
The company was set up in 2003 and describes itself as a ‘leader in the fast emerging property and real estate sector within GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] market’.
