Sevenoaks was recently named by The Daily Telegraph as the 12th most desirable place to live in the UK, and without a doubt a key part reason for this is our High Street and local businesses.
Whether it’s visiting the Stag for entertainment, Life on High for lunch, Number 8 in the evening for great food, Pizza Express with the kids, Marco’s for the finest pesto, or Hart Spa for some down time, and many other places besides, the high street sits at the heart of our community, and it was an honour to recently be invited to attend the Annual Sevenoaks Business Awards.
I loved meeting many of the excellent nominees and was pleased as Patron of the Sevenoaks Town Team to be able welcome those present, thanking them for the part they play in keeping our town vibrant. A huge congratulations to all the winners and nominees, and my thanks again to the Sevenoaks Town Team for organising such an excellent event.
Whilst local Government can help set the playing field and the tone, ultimately the success of the town is down to the local businesses with their hard work, dedication and enterprise. Setting up a business is risky – and we should support them as much as we can.
But businesses do need the Government on their side. They were supported through the pandemic, and come through the difficult subsequent years where Covid and the energy price spike caused a very much higher cost of living. From the many of the businesses I have spoken to, I know how worried they are about the forthcoming Budget and what it means for them.
We should never forget that often those setting up businesses have re-mortgaged their homes, taken out loans, toiled for extremely long hours 7 days a week – and made any sacrifices. In return they create employment and provide services we all use. I will continue to do all I can to stand up for our local businesses in Westminster, and ensure the government understands their importance of our local economy.
If you are a business owner or have an issue you would like to raise with me, please do email [email protected]. I will always do all I can to help.
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Below is a snapshot of what we have been working on. If there is anything, I can do to support you, please get in touch.
Having heard a few rumours circulating surrounding the future of Sevenoaks Hospital, I arranged a meeting with Mairead McCormick, the Chief Executive of Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) to discuss the latest situation, following the decision to move the 19 bed inpatient rehabilitation ward due to fire safety concerns. I was reassured by Mairead that all other services outside of the inpatient beds will continue. They will remain in their current location, before moving across the road to the other buildings on the Sevenoaks site following refurbishment. This is incredibly important news for our community, and I know will come as a huge relief to many of you who like me use and love the services provided. There are also some very early-stage plans to look at extending the services available in Sevenoaks. I will pass on more information when we have it, as well as details on how you can get involved. I stressed throughout the call how much our community values the services provided by Sevenoaks hospital and the importance of it to everyone who lives here.
Recently there have been too many incidents of horrendous traffic across the constituency. I am continuing to work with both District and County councillors to ensure this is addressed, however the news that a decision on the Lower Thames Crossing has been further delayed is deeply concerning. Residents in the Dartford Villages desperately need this crossing to ease the ongoing traffic congestion, particularly along Main Road in Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley Road in Hawley and Wilmington. I urge the Secretary of State for Transport to act swiftly and decisively so that the decision to approve the crossing is made as soon as possible.
It was great to visit the Brandshatch Place Hotel & Spa near Fawkham, which is part of the Sevenoaks headquartered Handpicked Hotels chain. I met with General Manager Catherine Benford and we discussed the hospitality industry and in particular their apprenticeships, which they are keen local people apply for. If you, or someone you know could be interested, please visit: https://www.handpickedhotels.co.uk/careers It was also amazing to hear that her son obtained an apprenticeship in a different industry having attended the Apprenticeship Fair I co-hosted previously.
It was a pleasure to welcome The Investment Boutique which has just opened in Westerham, having initially been based in Oxted. Helena and local resident Richard Arris now manage over £180m in assets, and it’s great to have the business now part of our community. Helena is also keen to help other women in finance. She currently sits on the committee of the Women Wealth Managers Network which attempts to redress the current imbalance by providing advice and support to its membership, so do reach out to her if you or someone you know could benefit from speaking with her. Their website is: https://theinvestmentboutique.com/ I wish them both every success.
Unpaid and often unheralded, parish councillors do so much for their local areas. And, it was a pleasure to recently meet with Krisha White, Chair of Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley Parish Council (who also runs the excellent The Meeting Place Sutton-at-Hone Cafe). With the brilliant local Borough Councillor Cllr George Holt in attendance, we discussed a variety of issues, including roadworks, speeding, GP appointments, parking and local public transport. Of particular note was the concerns we had all received about the poor service being provided to passengers of the 414 (including 414a and 414b) bus service. It is really important, if we are to encourage people to use public transport, that the public can rely on buses not being cancelled. I have now raised my concerns directly with the bus company, and will continue to work with Cllr George Holt and Krisha, to ensure improvements are made.
It was great to visit the Windmill Pub in Sevenoaks Weald, where I met with Richard Grady, Director of North & South Leisure Pub Company who operate the pub, and the pub manager Nigel. Pubs continue to go through a tough time, with customer levels still not having returned to pre-Covid levels and overheads such as energy costs making it difficult to keep afloat. It is also vital that we support our local pubs, otherwise we will lose them. Please do consider visiting your local this weekend, it makes such a difference.
While in the area, I also visited Weald Community Primary School. I was greeted with a beautiful song from the pupils and then taken by Head David Pyle to hand out certificates to the children. I then met with the Governors, local district councillor Roddy Hogarth, the Chair and Clerk of the Parish Council, parents, members of the PTA and the wonderful Sue Gidman, who keeps the village up to date with the monthly “Weald News and Views”. David and his excellent team are clearly doing a brilliant job. The school is an absolute delight and a key part of the Weald Village community.
I was delighted to attend the formal launch of the Eynsford and District Community Car Scheme – which offers help to those without cars and/or limited mobility to get to medical and other important appointments. As well as volunteer drivers using their own cars, a wheelchair accessible vehicle (named the Space Wagon) has also been purchased using a Government Grant to ensure as many people can be helped as possible. The scheme is available to residents of Eynsford, Farningham and Lullingstone, as well as those who attend Darent Valley Community Church. Payment is by way of donation at 45p a mile and an admin fee of £3, plus covering other expenses such as parking – so if you think you could benefit please contact them at: https://dvcc.online/community-car/
- I was pleased to drop into the Next Door Hextable Community Café. It was absolutely packed and quite clearly the centre of Hextable Village life. I’m so grateful to everyone there for the excellent service - and tea! The plans for a community centre were driven through and delivered by the outstanding Revd Johnny Douglas, and it is a wonderful to see how the facility is today providing a huge benefit to residents.
I attended the opening of the new Acute Stroke Unit (ASU) and Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) at Darent Valley Hospital (DVH). The new unit will provide capacity for up to 14 HASU beds and 22 ASU beds enabling the Trust to care for more than 800 stroke patients a year. The official opening was performed by Dr David Hargroves, National Clinical Director for Stroke and Dartford Cllr Avtar Sandhu. This is a brilliant investment into our area, and by having a dedicated expert unit this should both help save lives and lessen the long-term effects of strokes.
My campaign for a full Banking Hub in Swanley continues. Whilst I was pleased that we were successful in obtaining certain banking facilities at the Swanley Post Office, and securing the Barclays fortnightly van visits at Swanley Market, the town and its residents still need and deserve a Banking Hub. I provided an update earlier this year, where I said that whilst the previous guidance meant Swanley was unable to meet the current statutory criteria, and having argued for the criteria to be looked at again, a review of the whole topic of access to cash had been announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in order to create a new regulatory scheme. Following this review, the new scheme is now in place and I am pleased that working alongside the excellent Swanley Town Council we have both lodged a request for a Banking Hub review. There will be a visit on 30 October as part of the assessment process. This is the just the start, but you can be assured that I will do everything I can to support the town in obtaining these facilities. This is a fight I refuse to give up on and I will not rest until we are successful. I will keep you updated.
I absolutely love Polhill Garden Centre, and am often there at a weekend. It is one of the big independent employers in our area, and in this its 60th year, I was very pleased to visit to mark the occasion. I met with Josh Novell, who along with his sister is the third generation of his family to run the garden centre. It was great to hear about the history of the garden centre, and the plans Josh and his family have for the future. This is a brilliant business and long may it continue.
The trial of the #477 bus, stopping at the hospital and Bluewater is now entering its fourth month, and I am very keen that we continue to show Arriva how popular the route is. I recently travelled on the bus myself and was pleased to see how many people are using the service. That said, overall numbers are broadly static, and we need to use it, or we will lose it. So please, if you are visiting the hospital or Bluewater, do consider taking the bus.
The Farmers site in Sevenoaks has laid empty for nearly 20 years, and I share local frustrations at this. I recently held a meeting with the landowner’s planning consultants, Julia Thornton, Sevenoaks District Council’s Cabinet Member responsible for planning, and former councillor James London, to discuss how we can address this. I emphasised that a suitable development needs to be brought forward as soon as possible, and that as the gateway to Sevenoaks, any building needs to visually attractive, in keeping with our heritage, with parking available so not to clog up local roads. I am doing all I can to ensure a suitable approved plan is in place as soon as possible. I will keep you all updated.
- Finally, there is now just over one week left to enter my annual Christmas Card competition for 2024. The winning design will be printed on the front of the Christmas Cards I send out in December. And, The Stag Sevenoaks has again very kindly donated prizes, including tickets to see the Snow White pantomime this winter for the winner, and cinema tickets for the runners-up. All local children, up to 11-years-old, are invited to take part, and designs may be inspired by either their favourite festive local activities, places or stories. To enter visit: https://www.lauratrott.org.uk/christmas-card-competition
