SEVENOAKS CORE STRATEGY SUCCESSFULLY ADOPTED

Sevenoaks District Council's Core Strategy has been adopted following examination by PINS Inspector Elizabeth Fieldhouse.  The Core Strategy is the key Development Plan Document in the Council's Local Development Framework.  It draws together the objectives of a wide range of plans, programmes and strategies and provides the overarching principles that will deliver the essential development needs of the District.

The principal challenge to the Core Strategy came from developers who wanted a former MoD site at Fort Halstead, a major developed site of 130 ha. in the Green Belt in the north west of the district, to be allocated as a strategic housing allocation for up to 1000 dwellings and 62,000 square metres of commercial and leisure provision.  Given the site's size and location, the development on the scale proposed would have had significant implications for emerging district wide policy and therefore represented a serious challenge to the Council in terms of how the site could be accommodated within the Core Strategy.  The objection also raised the serious issue of how the Core Strategy could be found "sound" if the proposed allocation was regarded as appropriate by the Inspector and so should be incorporated into it.

The Inspector agreed with the Council that there was no need for a strategic allocation on the scale proposed and that any benefits were outweighed by the disbenefits.  She also noted that the proposed level of affordable housing provision (20%) was well below the level of 40% provided for in the Plan for larger housing sites.  The Inspector found the Core Strategy to be sound overall, subject

Meyric Lewis advised Sevenoaks Council on the drafting, revision and submission of the Plan.  This is the third Development Plan Document on which Meyric has advised the plan-making authority which has been found to be sound after examination.