PRESS RELEASE: Sevenoaks Town Council publishes details on its upcoming Masterplans for Sevenoaks Town Centre and St Johns
Published: 20 March 2024
On 27th November 2023, Sevenoaks Town Council adopted its
Blue Skies Priorities, as drafted by the new Term of Councillors 2023-2027. This document sets out actions which the Council wishes to pursue over the next term, and includes shorter term priorities to be delivered during Year 1, and longer term priorities to be delivered over the next 4 years.
One of the highest priority actions is to develop a Masterplan for the residential, retail and business districts in the Town Centre and St Johns. These will build upon the aims and objectives of the Sevenoaks Town Neighbourhood Plan, which was successful at Referendum in May 2023 and adopted by the District Council as a local planning document.
The role of a Masterplan is to provide spatial plans which provide a framework for long-term planning growth with a final goal of placemaking; i.e. creating public spaces which strengthen the connections between people and places.
Two separate Masterplans, one for the Town Centre, and one for St Johns Hill will be created, in order to build upon the strengths and assets of these two prominent locations. Urban Initiatives Studio, who created the Sevenoaks Northern Masterplan in 2015, have been commissioned to produce these documents in tandem with each other, in order to ensure that the visions for all three areas (Town, St Johns and Northern) compliment and connect to each other while celebrating their independent strengths.
Local stakeholder meetings will be held during the early stages of the work stage in order to raise awareness of the project, gather thoughts and ideas, and to understand the objectives and aspirations of local businesses and residents for the town centre or particular sites.
The full proposal document, which outlines the current parameters for both Masterplans, including methodology and proposed project programme, is available to view online here. This document is subject to change following meetings with key stakeholders.If you have any queries, or would like to be added to a circulation list for updates on the proposed Masterplans, please contact Georgie Elliston via planning@sevenoakstown.gov.uk
20/03/2024