Camden Centre to be Closed

The Issue

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has published its plans for the redevelopment of the Royal Victoria Place Shopping Centre (RVP).  

Having purchased the site in October 2023, the council announced its ambition to redevelop the site into a modern, mixed use of retail, leisure and residential accommodation.

This initial statement implied that the residential development would be in place of some of the retail units.  This is not the case.  

The draft plans released so far (by TWBC’s chosen Asset Management and Development Partner, West London based Rivington Hark) show that the only part of the site to be developed into residential use will be the “Market Square” at the cost of Calverley Church, Pure Gym and The Camden Centre, including the Little Pips nursery and pre-school.

The proposal is for 60 - 100, one to two bedroom flats.  No provision is made for additional parking for these flats.

Market Square tenants wedged into unsuitable space

All four of the anchor tenants of Market Square listed above are to be wedged into part of the lower ground floor, where the disused coffee shops and softplay are currently situated. There is no plan to replace the softplay area whatsoever. 

The old food court will be fully covered by a concrete slab to make room for more retail space above.  Light will only be able to enter this basement / lower ground floor level from the small handful of windows facing the Market Square and the current Camden Centre.

This is the area that has been deemed as the space in which the residents of our community will "take their leisure" - in the basement of a shopping centre.

The Camden Centre itself, which has  three floors, including the Little Pips Nursery and Pre-School, is to be moved.  The currently proposed site for relocation is the "lower ground floor" (basement) section of Palm Court. Once covered, this  site will have even more supporting pillars throughout the space than are currently present in order to support the concrete slab structure above. There is currently no planned provision for space of any significant footprint to enable the continuation of the activities that take place at the Camden Centre.

From initial discussions with the Development Management team at Rivington Hark current considerations are to:

1. Move Pure Gym into the space currently the food court/soft play (zero windows)
2. Move the Calverley Church into the empty coffee shop “Ishmail” (three windows)
3. Move Little Pips into the café space which was the “Nutmeg Tree” (one window)
4. Have the Camden Centre SHARE this space with the Nursery/Pre-School

It should be noted that the Development Manager has stated that no firm decision on this is yet in place and they are engaging with the public prior to submitting a formal planning application in the spring, 2026.

UPDATE SINCE LAUNCE OF SOCC GROUP: Following initial public engagement and feedback from the community, Rivington Hark will "decouple" the Market Square Plans from the broader RVP Planning Application in order to properly assess the needs of the community. We commend both TWBC and Rivington Hark for listening to the concerns of the community.

A vital community hub will be lost

This plan for the users of the Market Square is unsuitable.  Save Our Camden Centre (SOCC) has been established to try to persuade TWBC and its Asset Managers to not simply concentrate on the perceived revenue they will generate but to think of the value of this town-centre based community centre and its users.

The Camden Centre currently supports various community, sports, leisure, arts (including dance) health and well-being services, operated by both independent businesses, charities and government run organisations as well as offering a space which can be hired by families and businesses for one-off events at non-exorbitant rates benefiting the local community at large.

Very, very few alternatives exist in the town that have three halls of the size and nature of the Camden Centre to cater for all of these uses.  Once it is lost, it will be gone forever.

SOCC is broadly in favour of the proposed regeneration plan for RVP but is calling upon TWBC and Rivington Hark to reconsider its current stance and development plan before it is too late.  

Our ask

We are not against the plans in general. 

We are not opposed to TWBC or Rivington Hark making financial gains from this development.  

We are asking that they GENUINELY consider the community and do one of two things: