Sevenoaks Online is an independent news and information site for Sevenoaks and the surrounding villages. Our aim is simple: report what is changing in the district, and make the everyday local information people need easy to find. Beyond the news we also keep a guide to what is on across the district and a directory of local businesses.
Where we cover
Our patch is the Sevenoaks district in west Kent: the town of Sevenoaks itself, the neighbouring towns of Edenbridge, Swanley and Westerham, and the villages around them, among them Otford, Kemsing, Seal, Riverhead, Dunton Green, Chipstead, Shoreham, Eynsford, Farningham, Halstead, Brasted, Sundridge and New Ash Green. If something affects daily life here, from a planning decision or a road closure to a new place to eat, we aim to cover it.
How we report
Most of what we publish comes from public records that anyone is entitled to see but few people have time to read: planning applications and decisions from Sevenoaks District Council, open crime data from the police, sold-price data from HM Land Registry, school inspection reports, and official alerts on flooding, weather and roadworks. We turn those records into plain-English stories and we link to the original source on every one, so you can check the facts for yourself.
We use software to help us monitor those sources and draft routine updates quickly, the same approach the large regional publishers now use, but the facts always come from the named source, never invented, and anything sensitive is checked by a person before it is published.
Our bylines
Stories are filed under Sevenoaks Online Newsdesk, our house byline. The small line beneath it names the beat the story came from: council and planning, crime, transport, data, what’s on. It describes the subject the story belongs to, not a job title held at another organisation, and we are not part of any shared or funded reporting scheme.
Tell us what is happening
Some of the best local stories start with a resident who noticed something first. If you know of a planning row, a road closure, a business opening or closing, or a community event worth listing, email hello@sevenoaksonline.co.uk. We read everything, we treat tips in confidence, and a quick line from you often points us to a story we would otherwise have missed.
Images
Where we use a photograph we either took it ourselves, licensed it, used an image supplied to us for that purpose, or used an openly licensed image, and we credit it as required. We do not republish other outlets’ photographs.
Corrections
We would rather be accurate than first. If you spot an error, email hello@sevenoaksonline.co.uk and we will put it right and note the correction.
Who we are, and how this is paid for
Sevenoaks Online is published by the GOB Media Group, a UK media company, which meets the cost of running it. We are not owned by, funded by or affiliated with Sevenoaks District Council, Kent County Council, any political party, or any other body we report on.
There are no banner ads or pop-ups here, and nothing on the site earns us a commission: when we quote the price of a Chartwell ticket or a pumpkin patch, there is no affiliate link behind it and we get nothing if you go. What we do sell is a small, labelled set of things, set out on our advertise page: sponsored features, upgraded directory entries, job adverts and a slot in the weekly email. Anything paid for is marked Sponsored wherever it appears.
The site counts page views with Google Analytics, which sets two cookies and tells us that a story was read rather than who read it, and that is the whole of the tracking here; our privacy page says what it holds and how to opt out.
Our directory of local businesses is free to appear in. We do not charge a firm to be listed, to claim its page, or to have its details corrected; a paid upgrade adds photos, a description and a link, and that is all it adds. No payment moves a business up a list, improves a review, or buys it a mention in a story. Our editorial standards page sets out where the line sits and what happens when we get something wrong.