Officers recommend approval for up to 660 homes, a retirement village and a care home on the former golf course. The committee decides on 24 September.
Council officers are recommending approval for up to 660 homes on the former Broke Hill Golf Club at Halstead, the largest planning application in the district. The Development Management Committee decides on Thursday 24 September at 7pm. (Officer report to the Development Management Committee, 25/02129/OUT)
The recommendation is a reversal of fortune for a site where a bigger scheme was refused and then dismissed at appeal. It comes as the council’s draft Local Plan, which pencils in 714 homes on the same land on a provisional basis, closes its final consultation tomorrow, Thursday 17 September.
What is proposed
The outline application, 25/02129/OUT, covers the former golf course off Sevenoaks Road, opposite Knockholt station. It seeks, with all matters reserved except access:
- up to 660 homes
- a retirement village of up to 150 units and a care home
- a local centre, café and mixed-use area
- land safeguarded for a new primary school
- a country park, car parking and landscaping
Half of the housing would be affordable, split 65 per cent affordable or social rent and 35 per cent intermediate and shared ownership. (Officer report, 25/02129/OUT)
Why officers say yes where an inspector said no
The previous application, 19/02616/OUT, proposed up to 800 homes, a 180-unit retirement community, a sports hub and commercial space. The council refused it, and a planning inspector dismissed the appeal, ref APP/G2245/W/21/3273188, mainly on Green Belt harm, landscape impact and traffic generation. (Officer report, planning history section)
Two things have changed since, according to the report.
First, national policy. The 2024 rewrite of the National Planning Policy Framework introduced “grey belt”, Green Belt land judged to make a weak contribution to the belt’s purposes, and the August 2026 version refined it. Officers conclude the Broke Hill site is grey belt, which opens a route to approval if the scheme meets the policy’s tests, including its “Golden Rules” on affordable housing, green space and infrastructure. The report says the scheme “would comfortably meet” them. Notably, the council’s own Stage 2 Green Belt Assessment reached the opposite view of this land; officers answer that the developable site is smaller than the parcels that study assessed.
Second, the housing shortfall has deepened. The council can currently show 3.59 years of housing land supply against the five years required, and that is an improvement on the 2.96 years of October 2025. (Officer report, Green Belt and housing supply sections)
Nearly 1,000 objections
The application drew 976 letters of objection in the first consultation round, against 11 in support, with Green Belt impact the most cited reason, raised in 653 of them. A second consultation brought 393 more objections, led again by Green Belt (294) and by traffic (255). (Officer report, representations section)
Halstead Parish Council objects, arguing the site is not grey belt, that development would fundamentally undermine the Green Belt’s purposes, and that traffic will bring noise and congestion. Knockholt Parish Council objects over the scale of the scheme, pressure on infrastructure including Southeastern trains, and roads it considers unsuitable. The item is before the committee because Councillor Grint called it in, citing Green Belt policy, the previous appeal and pressure on health, education and transport. (Officer report, consultation responses)
What the developer would have to fund
Approval would be conditional on a Section 106 legal agreement, completed by 31 December 2026. If it is not signed by then, officers recommend refusal instead. The package includes:
- extending Transport for London bus route R7 to Knockholt station
- raising Kent County Council’s route 3, which serves Sevenoaks via Knockholt station, to at least one bus an hour through the day
- payments to Network Rail for station improvements
- land and construction contributions for secondary school places, plus SEND funding
- healthcare contributions to the South East London NHS integrated care board
- public rights of way improvements and travel plan monitoring
(Officer report, recommendation and S106 heads of terms)
What it means for you
If the committee follows the recommendation, outline permission would establish the principle of a development roughly the size of a village between Halstead and Badgers Mount. Detailed designs would still come later, through reserved matters applications, each with its own consultation.
The meeting is public: Thursday 24 September, 7pm, at the Council Offices in Argyle Road, with the agenda on the council’s committee pages. The full application documents are on the council’s planning portal under reference 25/02129/OUT; our guide to Sevenoaks planning applications explains how to search it and how to comment on schemes near you.
A committee vote to grant is not the end of the story. Permission would only be issued once the Section 106 agreement is signed, and a Green Belt approval of this scale can attract a request for the Secretary of State to call the decision in. We will report the committee’s decision.
Sources
- Sevenoaks District Council, officer report to the Development Management Committee, 25/02129/OUT, Former Broke Hill Golf Club
- Sevenoaks District Council, Development Management Committee agenda, 24 September 2026
Image: Broke Hill Golf Course by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.
Have your say