The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council met on Monday 27 July 2026. The meeting's agenda included a presentation on housing delivery and water infrastructure, an update on the South East Water Task and Finish Group, and a review of the committee's work programme.

Housing Delivery and Water Infrastructure

Carlos Hone, Head of Planning, was scheduled to present on how the council's plan for housing delivery could be integrated with water provision and infrastructure. This discussion aimed to ensure that the council's housing growth plans were aligned with the capacity and resilience of the local water supply network.

South East Water Task and Finish Group Update

A verbal update was expected from the South East Water Task and Finish Group. This group has been examining issues related to water supply and infrastructure in the region, particularly in light of past supply outages experienced by residents. The previous meeting's minutes, dated 15 June 2026, detailed a comprehensive question and answer session with representatives from South East Water, where concerns were raised about investment, infrastructure failures, and communication during supply disruptions. The group's work is likely to focus on recommendations to improve the reliability of water services.

Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to consider its future work programme. This would involve reviewing planned topics for upcoming meetings and potentially identifying new areas for scrutiny. The work programme document indicated that future discussions might include presentations from Southern Water, a review of the Joint Transportation Board, and consideration of environmental agency flood mitigation issues.

The meeting also included standard procedural items such as receiving apologies for absence, noting declarations of interest, and reviewing the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 June 2026. There was also an opportunity to consider any items that had been Called-In for further scrutiny. The date of the next meeting was noted as Monday 21 September 2026.