There are better sites for a garden village and rugby stadium that would avoid an “act of irreversible environmental vandalism”, campaigners say.
Three parish councils have joined forces to fight plans to build on Pedham Place Golf Club, in the greenbelt on the outskirts of Swanley and the M25.
Pedham Place Golf Centre is being teed up for 2,500 new homes
Sevenoaks District Council wants to include it in its next Local Plan as a site suitable for up to 2,500 homes, plus a 28,000-seater stadium, previously eyed up by Wasps Rugby Football Club.
But Farningham, Eynsford, and Crockenhill Parish Councils have formed a partnership to fight the scheme and have together engaged the services of Tibbalds planning consultants to present their case.
They point out the site is on the highest, most visible, point of the Darent Valley, which sits within the Metropolitan Green Belt and the Kent Downs National Landscape.
The proposed site would be accessed from the A20 adjacent to J3 of the M25 where it meets Junction 1 of the M20, which, they say, has long received criticism for poor traffic management and air quality.
The parishes argue the development proposals conflict with national planning policy and that the location is fundamentally unsustainable, with limited access to public transport, which will result in more car journeys adding to local congestion and pollution.
The golf links could become be converted to a 2,500-home garden village
They say there must be better sites within Sevenoaks to meet its housing targets which would “not result in an act of irreversible environmental vandalism.”
The district council is currently trying to find room for 10,600 new homes in the plan period, which goes up until 2040, but fears that the new Labour government will substantially increase that number despite the fact that 93% of the district falls within the green belt.
Daryl Burns, the chairman of Farningham Parish Council, said: “Our council is conscious of the additional challenges placed on the district council, and we want to work positively to support them in developing an effective Local Plan as quickly as possible.
“However, we fundamentally oppose the continued inclusion of Pedham Place as a potential part of the solution.
“Pedham Place is both greenbelt, and a national landscape, and does not meet the draft definition for grey belt as set out by the new government, meaning that it will not be deliverable.
Daryl Burns, chairman of Farningham Parish Council
“We believe that continuing to pursue Pedham Place is a folly, which will ultimately waste public money and delay the implementation of the Sevenoaks Local Plan.”
Vince Robson, the chairman of Eynsford Parish Council, said: “We believe Pedham Place is in the wrong place to meet the housing needs as identified in the Sevenoaks Housing Needs Assessment, specifically for affordable housing and specialist housing for older people.
“The extraordinary infrastructure costs associated with bringing Pedham Place forward will inevitably ensure affordable housing is unviable.
“The future housing needs in the north of the Sevenoaks district can be met in part from the current oversupply of homes by Dartford borough, where the housing targets are likely to be reduced by 10%, and which has a much closer relationship with Farningham, Crockenhill and Eynsford.”
Rachel Waterton, the chairman of Crockenhill Parish Council, said: “In addition to the proposals for 2,500 new homes, there were also proposals put forward for a stadium within the Crockenhill Parish.
Vince Robson, chairman of Eynsford Parish Council
“Any type of development of this scale, in such proximity to our villages, is simply not feasible and would be disastrous to our rural setting.
“There are no exceptional circumstances or need for such condensed housing or a 28,000-seater stadium within the Sevenoaks district – with the O2, Brands Hatch, the London Golf Course, and the proposed Millwall Training Ground all being within a nine-mile radius.
“In these situations, the environmental benefits of rolling green landscape and rich agricultural land are significantly advantageous to our existing residents.
“Our outlook, in its current state should not be excused as ‘previously developed land.’
“It is part of the greenbelt that we value immensely. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Early impressions of how the rugby stadium could look
The stadium plan in any case may already have fallen by the wayside with promoters, Wasps RFC, now looking elsewhere.
Rob Moorhouse is an associate director at Tibbalds. He said: “Tibbalds is passionate about supporting people-friendly places, and we are recognised to be national experts in delivering sustainable new settlements.
“We agree with Farningham, Eynsford and Crockenhill Parish Councils that Pedham Place is not the right solution to meet Sevenoaks’ future housing needs as it is in a fundamentally unsustainable location.
“We intend to build an evidence base which we hope will help to refocus Sevenoaks council on a more sustainable distribution of housing such as a greater focus on optimising opportunities on brownfield sites, especially those near the fifteen rail stations within the district.”
However, the developers Gladman Developments and the Ramac group, who are jointly promoting the Pedham Place location as a “20-minute village” argue that they will provide schools, shops and doctor’s surgeries within the development – making it sustainable.
Villagers opposed to the Pedham Place development marched from The Lion in Farningham to Pedham Place, where they held a picnic
They say the idea is that its residents would find everything they needed within a 20-minute walk of their homes.
They pointed out the site was also close to the M25 and the railway line, for wider travel opportunities.
However, the plans rely on improvements at the M25 J3 to facilitate access, and National Highways has warned that no such improvements are in the pipeline.
Residents of the three villages involved are strongly behind their parish councils, and have held several protest walks and even a tractor drive to show their opposition.
The collective parish councils have asked that Sevenoaks formally withdraw Pedham Place from future Local Plan considerations.
Rachel Waterton, centre, chairman of Crockenhill Parish Council, at the earlier tractor protest
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Sevenoaks is preparing its Local Plan 2040, to determine where development should go over the next 16 years.
It has yet to take the plan to the Regulation 19 public consultation stage.
The proposed boundaries of the Pedham Place settlement lie fully within the parishes of Farningham and Eynsford councils. The site that was proposed for the rugby stadium lies within Crockenhill parish.
Pedham Place currently operates as an 18-hole golf course, with a driving range.