Pressures for affordable housing are being felt nationwide, and it is preventing families, including those right here in Sevenoaks, from getting onto the housing ladder. However, we cannot be completely blind to the local geographical circumstances of our communities. The Sevenoaks District is 93% Green Belt, and we must therefore strike the balance between protecting this, and ensuring the district has the right infrastructure for the communities living here.
An agreed Local Plan is pivotal in delivering this.
I was bitterly disappointed last year when our previous Local Plan was held up by the Planning Inspector, due to what I considered to have been an unfair interpretation of the “Duty to Cooperate”. This is a duty to see if neighbouring authorities are able to take some of our housing requirement – which of course they could not as they too have high levels of Green Belt land. This plan would have tripled our home building target.
However, after representations made my myself and colleagues, I am pleased the Government plan to remove this duty in the forthcoming Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill. This should make it easier for a forthcoming Local Plan to be approved by the Planning Inspectorate.
As with all similar processes, a huge amount of work goes into drafting and agreeing a Local Plan, and it was great this month to meet with officials from Sevenoaks District Council to discuss how the new plan is progressing. The first stage of the consultation has now closed but there is further consultation due to take place in the Autumn, with a final pre-submission consultation in the Spring of 2024 should residents wish to feed in.
Separately, the Government is also currently consulting on changes to the National Planning Policy Framework and associated guidance on local housing need. Having previously successfully opposed the introduction of a housing algorithm in Parliament (which would have set in law a higher figure for local house building than the calculation it sought to replace), this consultation, amongst other proposals, makes it clear that the standard method figures (which would currently require 13,566 homes to be built in Sevenoaks by 2040) should only be advisory – and not mandatory. This is of vital importance as it means Sevenoaks District Council will be in a stronger position to factor in constraints such as Green Belt and the character of an area.
Given its huge impact on our local community, I, alongside Sevenoaks District Council will be responding to the consultation. However, residents can also get involved, so please do make sure your views are heard by responding by the 2nd March:
Combined, I am hopeful that these two pieces of legislative changes in planning policy (along with other measures included in the consultation) will help protect the pressures on housebuilding within the Green Belt. Sevenoaks District Council have been brilliant in delivering sustainable housing, with the consent of the community and we must allow them to continue to put our community first.
