Regulation 19, Sevenoaks Local Plan - Last Chance to Have Your Say!

Now is the FINAL time for residents to comment on the Local Plan

and help shape the future of our area.

Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) is consulting on its new Local Plan that it intends to submit for independent examination by 31st December 2026. The Plan will guide what can be built and where between 2027 to 2042, including 17,460 new homes, jobs and infrastructure.

The plan now proposes to ALLOCATE Pedham Place (Ref ST5-2) as a standalone settlement for approximately 2,600 homes, 3 schools, employment space and Gypsy & Traveller pitches on 141.2 hectares within the parishes of Farningham and Eynsford, all within the Green Belt and Kent Downs National Landscape (formerly AONB).

The proposed WASPS stadium is no longer part of the Local Plan. This is a major, and welcomed, change from Regulation 18.

Comments can be submitted up until 11:59pm on 17th September 2026. Please use this leaflet to help you make your comments.

HOW THE LOCAL PLAN IS TESTED AT REGULATION 19, AND HOW YOUR COMMENTS CAN COUNT

Before it can be adopted, the Local Plan must pass two key tests:

1. Legally Compliant

Has SDC followed the law and correct procedures in preparing the Plan?

•Duty to co-operate with neighbouring authorities

•Sustainability appraisal and other evidence

•Public consultation and engagement in line with legal requirements

2. Soundness

Is the Plan “Sound”? The Inspector will test the Plan against the four tests of soundness and what, if any, modifications are required:

Positively Prepared

Does the Plan meet Eynsford’s needs. The right amount and kind of housing, jobs, schools, rail, road, highways, water and sewage treatment?

Justified

Is this the most appropriate strategy that SDC had available to them? Were the alternatives properly considered and is the evidence robust and up to date?

Effective

Will the development actually happen – is it deliverable over the period of the plan including joint working between stakeholders?

Consistent with National Policy

Does the Plan follow Government guidance to deliver sustainable development in accordance with national legislation?

At Regulation 18, SDC was asking for views on options and alternatives.

At Regulation 19, SDC has chosen its proposed strategy. Pedham Place is now included as a proposed allocation under draft Policy ST5-2.

You cannot ask SDC to choose a different option. Your comments should explain why the Plan, policy or an allocation is not legally compliant and/or sound.

If you want a change, be as specific as possible about the change needed. Regulation 19 is the key stage for anyone who wants their concerns considered by the Planning Inspector.

KEY POINTS

Eynsford, Farningham & Crockenhill Parish Councils have commissioned advice from Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design, to inform our responses to Regulation 19. Eynsford Parish Council fundamentally opposes the inclusion of Pedham Place for the following reasons:

1. NATIONAL LANDSCAPE AND EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES National policy gives strong protection to National Landscapes. SDC has not demonstrated that the harm to the landscape, environment and recreation can be fully moderated, despite the proposed mitigation. The justification for building a development of this scale in a national landscape is not adequate according to the latest NPPF

2. PERMANENT LANDSCAPE HARM The evidence acknowledges that approximately 2,600 homes would fundamentally change the site from a rural to urban character with negative effects on tranquillity, dark skies, the strategic gap between Eynsford and Swanley which could be thought to undermine the overall purpose of the green belt. This area of green belt was deemed to be high performing i.e. is not grey belt. It would have a detrimental effect on the views across the Darent Valley even if mitigation with trees was successful.

3. REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES A key Regulation 19 question is whether the chosen strategy is justified by proportionate evidence and whether reasonable alternatives have been properly considered. While other combinations of sites have been considered and deemed to be less impactful on the national landscape the permanent damage inflicted is not justified by the housing need.

4. SUSTAINABILITY AND DELIVERABILITY It is doubtful whether a development of 2,600 homes is viable as a standalone settlement so realistically it would have to be considered an urban extension to Swanley. Any transport links to Swanley are compromised by the M20 and M25 even with junction improvement and cycling and walking routes. A large standalone settlement is in conflict with the established local settlement pattern of cottages, farms and linear villages.

5. HIGHWAYS The impact of this development on the local roads, especially Crockenhill Lane has been underestimated. There is little evidence to support the wished-for conversion to walking and cycling, so local honeypot sites e.g Riverside would be overwhelmed with visitors in cars.

Eynsford Parish Council strongly objects to the proposed Pedham Place allocation and supports its removal through a modification to the plan and exceptional circumstance relief reducing the overall housing target.

MAKE YOUR REPRESENTATION COUNT!

1. Go to Sevenoaks District Council’s Regulation 19 consultation: https://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/info/20069128/emerging_local_plan/

914/sevenoaks_district_local_plan_regulation_19_publication_summer_2026

2. Choose the relevant document, policy or allocation. For Pedham Place,

look for draft Policy ST5 and the supporting Development Brief: https://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/info/20069128/emerging_local_plan

/752/pedham_place_proposals

3. Submit your comments: https://engagement.sevenoaks.gov.uk/

strategic-planning/localplanregulation19/consultation/

And include which test you believe is not met:

LEGALLY COMPLIANT

POSITIVELY PREPARED / JUSTIFIED / EFFECTIVE /

CONSISTENT WITH NATIONAL POLICY.

4. Explain WHY, using your own words. Refer to a specific policy, paragraph or piece of evidence where possible.

5. SAY WHAT SHOULD CHANGE.

For example: “Modify the Local Plan to remove Pedham Place (ST5-2) as an allocation under draft Policy ST5.”

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A PLANNING EXPERT.

Your experience and local knowledge can be important. Keep your comments focused, specific and respectful.

DEADLINE: 11:59pm on 17 SEPTEMBER 2026

Please use this leaflet to inform your own response. It is guidance, not a script: make your representation in your own words and focus on the Regulation 19 legal compliance and soundness questions.

If you cannot use the online form for your response you can fill in this paper form, however it will need to be returned to Sevenoaks District Council Offices, or scanned and emailed by the end of 17th September 2026.

Contact us if you have any queries on 01322 865320 or clerk@eynsfordparishcouncil.gov.uk