PRESS RELEASE: Free copies of the Sevenoaks Town Neighbourhood Plan are available to be picked up at various locations in Sevenoaks Town

Published: 25 April 2023

Copies of the Sevenoaks Town Neighbourhood Plan (STNP), which is due to be voted on by Sevenoaks Town residents via Public Referendum on 4th May 2023, are now available to pick up for free from the following locations:*

Sevenoaks Town Council Offices, Bradbourne Vale Road
Sevenoaks District Council Offices, Argyle Road
The Stag Sevenoaks, London Road
Sevenoaks Station, London Road
Francis Jones Jewellers, London Road
Bat & Ball Centre, Cramptons Road
Sevenoaks Library, Buckhurst Lane – pending delivery
Sainsburys, Otford Road

The summary document, which was created to provide a shorter explanation of the STNP and what it will achieve, is also available. Both documents are free and residents are welcomed to take as many copies as they need.

The 4th May 2023 Public Referendum is a culmination of years of work by Sevenoaks Town Council and its Councillors in collaboration with local businesses and organisations who guided the direction and contents of the STNP via a Steering Committee. Its contents have been informed by the views of Sevenoaks Town residents through multiple public consultations, including the 2014 public consultation which provided the STNP with its key themes and issues which it aims to address.

The STNP is based upon a vision for the future of Sevenoaks Town, and an accompanying set of objectives which will be achieved through the implementation of corresponding policies and aims. One of the main focuses is on improving health and wellbeing of Sevenoaks Town residents, addressing the nationally declared climate emergency, and strengthening the positive qualities that define and characterise Sevenoaks Town. The full Vision Statement can be viewed on page 7 of the STNP.

Below is a short list of example benefits that the STNP will deliver to the town:
Enhanced community and sports facilities, including a new allotment site at Bradbourne Vale Road, a watersports centre at Sevenoaks Quarry (Tarmac site), and allocation of the Oast House for community-use
Proposals for a Cultural Quarter and improvements to the Public Realm to support and enhance the local economy and local businesses
Protection of Sevenoaks’ character, heritage and identity
Improvements to Bat & Ball junction
Retention of trees and support of tree planting and policy-protection of how proposed developments treat blue and green infrastructure
Promotion of safe walking and cycle routes, including a proposed cycling path which connects Dunton Green, Sevenoaks Town, and Otford.
Policies that tackle important and more recently identified environmental issues such as ensuring that new developments secure a net gain of 10% biodiversity, and that surface water is properly managed to minimise flood risk.

Most importantly in regards to the last bullet-point, is the fact that such issues related to the need to tackle climate change do not currently have Planning Policy protection at a local level. The unfortunate delays to the District Council’s emerging Local Plan mean that more recent events such as the Environment Act 2021, which now requires most major consented developments to ensure a 10% biodiversity net gain, are not locally reinforced.

The STNP however has been updated to recognise and address the nationally declared climate emergency, with 26 of the overall 34 Policies, and 6 of the overall 13 Aims specifically contributing towards meeting the government’s zero carbon commitment.

In practice, and to deliver the objectives of the STNP, the document will be used in a number of ways. The three key uses will be by the Local Planning Authority in its determination of local planning applications, developers in the shaping of their planning applications for proposed development, and by Sevenoaks Town Council in its actioning of several of the plan’s priorities.

Included in the Plan therefore, are Policies on design guidance for potential future development and housing, added protection of local character and heritage, as well as Aims which indicate a priority that will be pursued throughout the lifetime of the Plan.

For more information about the STNP, including history of its progression, previous public consultations, and its supporting documents, please visit: https://sevenoaksndp.wordpress.com/.

If you have any queries, please contact

Georgie Elliston
planning@sevenoakstown.gov.uk
25/04/2023

*The location list will be kept updated via this link, as and when new locations are added.