Pedham Place and the Sevenoaks Local Plan

Yesterday I submitted my response to Sevenoaks District Council’s Regulation 18 consultation on the Local Plan (Plan 2040). This is copied below; it sets out my concerns about Options 2 and 3 put forward by the Council, both of which incorporate development proposals for 2,500 houses at Pedham Place. The implications of this for Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley, and for the northern parishes of Crockenhill, Eynsford, Farningham and Horton Kirby and South Darenth in particular are very concerning. The proposals for the Wasps stadium in the same area create a still more serious cumulative impact.

Broom Hill: Inspector's decision goes against residents

Last year saw an appeal by the developers ProVision against Sevenoaks District Council's refusal of permission for four applications for between 20 and 61 houses on the Broom Hill site. Residents of. Beechenlea Lane were deeply concerned about the proposals, fearing a major impact in terms of traffic, noise and a change in the character of the area in which they live, often for many years. I worked with residents in support of their stance and spoke at the second leg of the Inquiry in October (posts of 24 February and 8 October).

Late last week, the Inspector handed down his verdict, which was solidly in favour of the developer's appeals on all four applications. This is a bitter disappointment to local people, who feel that they have lost out on everything. Reading the Inspector's Decisions, it is clear that the new National Planning Policy. Framework (NPPF) weighed heavily in the Inspector's thinking. So did the lack of formal protections on the land; it was taken out of Green Belt 20 years ago, though never with the intention on the part of Sevenoaks District Council of its being subject to residential development.

The full Decisions report can be found here.

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.