Broom Hill Inquiry

The proposed development - or rather, four planning applications for between 20 and 61 houses - on Broom Hill in Swanley has caused a great deal of concern to residents of Beechenlea Lane and other local people. At the time of the original applications, I wrote to Sevenoaks District Council setting out my reasons for opposing them (post of 24 February).

When Sevenoaks District Council rejected the four applications, the developers ProVision appealed. I was on holiday at the time of the initial Inquiry before a Planning Inspector in August, and so unable to attend, but the final part of the Inquiry took place today. I joined local residents, along with Swanley Town Council Leader and Sevenoaks District Councillor Tony Searles in speaking against the applications.

Local residents - at least one of whom had never spoken in public before - set out powerfully their concerns about noise, air quality and ecology. I spoke about the limited amount of green space in Swanley, especially in the southern and eastern part of the town. Losing a significant part of the Broom Hill site to development would reduce this still further. Sevenoaks District Council has made clear in a succession of documents over the years that it does not see housing development as appropriate for Broom Hill. The most recent statement of this came in the Allocations and Development Management Plan, published in September 2012 and currently going through the approval process (expected to be completed in February). I argued that the Inspector should give weight to the intentions set out in this document, even if it is not yet policy, since it is in an advanced stage of development.

 The Inquiry is now over and we must await the Inspector's ruling.