March 2023 - Sevenoaks District Council, as the local planning authority, has refused planning permission.
22/02645/OUT - Outline application for the development of 50 dwellings - Land South of Larches, Ashgrove Road, Sevenoaks.
SIGMA have the right to appeal within six months of the SDC rejection (30.03.23) and will almost certainly do so. With no Local or Neighbourhood plans approved by SDC, residents need to join forces and fight against these unstructured and opportunistic developments.
The SIGMA development, if approved, willl impact on everyone in the area due to construction traffic, noise, destruction of local habitat and erosion of the countryside.
| Read Officer's Report |
| Read SDC's Refusal of Outline Planning Permission |
| View other documents relating to this development |
PUBLIC COMMENTS
According to the SDC Officer's Report:
Over the four consultation periods, a total of 443 public comments were received. These are broken down below:
- 2 comments of support
- 441 comments objecting to the scheme
441 comments objecting to the scheme, raising the following matters (in order of times raised):
Main objections:
- Impact on local traffic and road infrastructure (raised 357 times)
- Lack of pavements along local roads and concerns of pedestrian and highway user safety (raised 223 times)
- Pressure on local services including schools and healthcare (raised 213 times)
- Harm to Green Belt (raised 184 times)
- Harm to AONB (raised 172 times)
- Concerns with the proposed access including safety, visibility and narrow width of lane (raised 164 times)
- Impacts upon wildlife and biodiversity (raised 94 times)
- Harm of the new dwellings to the character and appearance of the area (raised 78 times)
- Issues of sustainability of development in relation to achieving net zero and a reliance on cars due to the lack of amenities and schools within walking distance (raised 48 times)
- Proximity and harm to ancient woodland (raised 46 times)
- Concerns with surface water on road surfaces, drainage and flooding (raised 35 times)
- Insufficient Very Special Circumstances (raised 33 times)
- Concerns with density and overdevelopment (raised 30 times)
- Increased pollution from cars and traffic (raised 30 times)
Other objections:
- Outside the urban town boundary (raised 19 times)
- The site being a Greenfield not a brownfield site (raised 19 times)
- Harm to the open countryside (raised 18 times)
- Impact upon local utility services (raised 18 times)
- Loss of hedgerow due to access (raised 15 times)
- Impact on neighbours, including overlooking, loss of privacy, noise, overshadowing, and disturbance (raised 14 times)
- Impact on local footpath routes (raised 13 times)
- Lack of public benefit (raised 12 times)
- Unaffordability of homes, will not benefit local people (raised 11 times)
- Proposed access as harmful to the character and appearance of the country lane (raised 9 times)
- Lack of parking facilities (raised 8 times)
- Light pollution from the development (raised 6 times)
- Harm to the Conservation Area (raised 5 times)
- The loss/felling of trees (raised 4 times)
- Support the need for affordable housing (raised 4 times)
- Applicant fails to address concerns (raised 3 times)
- Scale of objections logged (raised 3 times)
- Harm to setting nearby Listed Buildings (raised 2 times)
- Difficulty of emergency service vehicles accessing site (raised 2 times)
- Harm to the North Downs Special Landscape Area (raised 2 times)
- Proximity and harm to Sevenoaks Common (raised 2 times)
- Impact on mental wellbeing (raised 1 time)
- Attenuation pond issues (raised 1 time)
- Increase in crime and lack of police presence (raised 1 time)
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