A new budget to fund delivery of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council services was agreed by councillors last night [18 February].
Members voted to set the council tax bills for waste collection, recycling, planning, parks, leisure and other local services at an average of £4.72 a week for a Band D home. The annual bill will be £245.30, an increase of £7.14 on the current year.
Bills also fund services provided by Kent County Council, such as education, highways and social care, the costs of which account for around 70 per cent of bills. In addition, it raises income for the Kent Police Services, Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority and parish and town councils.
The combined bill for an average Band D household in Tonbridge and Malling from April 2025 will be made up as follows:
- Kent County Council - £1,691.19 (+4.99%)
- Tonbridge and Malling BC - £245.30 (+3%)
- Kent Police Services - £270.15 (+5.47%)
- Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue - £94.86 (+5.51%)
- Parish/town councils (av) - £73.27 (+3.04%)
- Total - £2,374.77(+4.79%)
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s income from council tax for the year from April 2025 is forecast to be £13.2m, up from £12.7m last year. The council’s medium term financial strategy is addressing a forecast funding gap of £2.8m over the next ten years. Savings and efficiencies totalling £600,000 are planned for the next financial year.
Council tax income receipts ensure delivery of a range of borough services, including:
- Collecting waste from 120,000 bins each week
- Processing more than 2,100 planning applications
- Operating 40 car parks
- Managing 400 areas of public open space
- Planting over 1,000 trees in the borough
- Providing licences for more than 3,600 businesses, shops, pubs and taxis
- Inspecting more than 500 food outlets annually
Over the last year, the council has focused on addressing key issues of concern to residents. This included devoting more resources to tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) with dedicated patrols targeting known hot spots. As a result, Tonbridge and Malling has seen Kent’s biggest reduction in incidents reported, with a drop of 33 per cent.
Last year Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council also invested significantly in its leisure facilities. This included a programme of improvements and decarbonisation totalling £1.6m for Larkfield Leisure Centre, including new state-of-the-art gym equipment. The Angel Centre also received new fitness apparatus and the spa at Tonbridge Swimming Pool has been refurbished as part of our commitment to support residents in leading healthier, more active lifestyles.
Looking to the year ahead, the council will continue to focus on its goal of being carbon neutral with more improvements to its leisure centres buildings and the installation of air heat pumps.
It will aim to further improve recycling rates in the borough, which are among the highest in Kent. Currently around half of all rubbish is recycled with the remainder sent for incineration to generate electricity. Food waste is turned into green energy powering 3,600 homes and organic fertiliser for local farms.
In 2025, Haysden Country Park and the Tonbridge Racecourse Sportsground will seek to renew their internationally accredited Green Flag status for outstanding management. If successful it will be the 20th consecutive year for Haysden Country Park. The year ahead will see the council continue its commitment to tree planting with a further 1,000 saplings going in across the borough.
The council has also committed to further investment in community and environmental projects, with plans for the multi-million-pound redevelopment of Tonbridge town centre, creating a new leisure hub and thriving riverside community.
Cllr Kim Tanner, the council’s cabinet member responsible for finance, said: “Our disciplined approach to efficiency has helped us to keep the increase in council tax as low as we can, once again. With the rising cost of living still impacting many people, we’re striving every day to continue delivering good quality services, from regular bin collections to housing support, sustainable building programmes and innovative projects supporting local business.
“While many local councils struggle to balance the books, we are pleased to be in a position of financial resilience with good overall performance. This allows us to continue to invest, plan and deliver for the residents of Tonbridge and Malling, today and in the future, with exciting plans ahead.”