Suzanne Parkes joins from Elmbridge as Kingston's planning director. She inherits 1.48 years of housing land supply and a Local Plan open for comment until 4 September.

Kingston Council has appointed Suzanne Parkes as its new Director of Planning and Regeneration, announced on 14 August. She joins from neighbouring Elmbridge Borough Council, where she was Head of Planning and Environmental Health, and the council says she brings more than 20 years of local government experience.

The timing is the story. Kingston’s new Local Plan is due to go to a planning inspector in December 2026, the public consultation on it closes in three weeks, and the borough’s own published figures show it can demonstrate 1.48 years of deliverable housing land against the five years national policy expects.

What she inherits

The council’s own Housing Delivery Test and Five-Year Housing Land Supply statement, the position as at 1 March 2025, sets out the position in plain numbers. The London Plan sets Kingston an average requirement of 964 homes a year. Against that, the borough has built up an accumulated shortfall of 1,968 homes. Add the shortfall and a 20 per cent buffer to five years of requirement and the council needs to point to 8,146 homes on deliverable sites. It can point to 2,407.

Bar chart showing Kingston's five-year housing requirement of 8,146 homes against a deliverable supply of 2,407 homes, with key figures of 1.48 years supply, a 48 per cent Housing Delivery Test result and 964 homes a year required
Kingston's housing land supply position. Chart by Kingston Wire, from the council's own statement.

The same statement records a Housing Delivery Test result of 48 per cent, based on the government’s 2023 measurement. In practice a council in that position has much weaker footing when it refuses an application and the applicant appeals.

The statement is also candid about why the supply figure is so low, and it names the sites. Three large permissions were excluded from the deliverable supply: Eden Walk, with full permission for 380 homes, where the council notes construction has begun but records it as excluded; Unilever Kingston, with outline permission for 156 homes; and Regents Wing at Kingston Hospital, with full permission for 128 homes. Those three alone account for 664 homes that have planning permission but are not counted as deliverable.

The Local Plan, and the bit that affects you

The council’s Local Plan page confirms the plan covers 2028 to 2043 and that the current stage is the Regulation 19 consultation, the final one before submission. In the council’s words, it “launched on 6 July and is running for 8 weeks, until 11.59pm, 4 September 2026”.

After that the plan goes to the Secretary of State in December 2026, an examination in public is expected in 2027, and adoption could follow in 2028. Once it is submitted, the opportunity to comment as a resident has effectively gone; the examination stage is about whether the plan is sound, not about reopening it.

Councillor Andrew Wooldridge, the portfolio holder for leisure, economic development and planning policy, referred to that timetable directly. He said Parkes “joins us at an important time, with our Local Plan nearing submission, our planning services continuing to change following last year’s Peer Review and our work with South London partners on employment, transport and inward investment gathering real momentum.”

Parkes said she was “excited to be joining Kingston at a time of significant opportunity” and that the borough “has a strong identity, ambitious plans for the future and a clear commitment to delivering sustainable growth that benefits residents, businesses, and local neighbourhoods”.

The council did not give a start date in its announcement.

What it means for you

If there is a site near you that you have opinions about, the Regulation 19 consultation is the last straightforward chance to put them on the record, and it closes at 11.59pm on 4 September 2026. The consultation documents and the response route are on the council’s Local Plan page.

The land supply figure matters beyond the plan itself. When a council cannot demonstrate five years of deliverable sites, national policy tilts decisions towards approving housing schemes, which is why applications you might expect to be refused sometimes are not. If you want to see what is being applied for on your street in the meantime, our Kingston planning page tracks the weekly list, and the borough’s house price figures are the other half of the same argument.

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