Quinn Estates wants the Secretary of State to call in its 660-home Broke Hill scheme after councillors refused it against officer advice. What it says, and why.

The developer behind the 660-home plan for the former Broke Hill golf course has asked the government to take the decision away from Sevenoaks District Council, the day after councillors refused it.

Quinn Estates, which calls the scheme Stonehouse Park, says it is “profoundly disappointed and frustrated” that the Development Management Committee went against its own planning officers on Thursday 24 September. In a statement sent to us through its PR agency, Pillory Barn, on Friday afternoon, it urged the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to “intervene without delay” and call the application in.

Our report on the committee meeting, the Green Belt grounds for refusal and the steps that follow has the council’s side in full. This piece is the developer’s response.

What Quinn Estates is asking for

The council cannot issue a refusal straight away. Officers told the committee the decision must first be referred to the Secretary of State, who can then choose to call the application in and decide it nationally. Quinn Estates’ statement makes the same point and asks the minister to act on it:

“The Council is required to notify the Secretary of State of this resolution before a decision is issued. We urge the Secretary of State to intervene without delay so that this application, which fully accords with National Planning Policy, can be rapidly progressed to a decision, enabling the delivery of much-needed new homes and valuable facilities for the community.”

A call-in would take the decision out of the committee’s hands. If there is none, the council can issue the refusal and the company’s next route would be an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The statement does not say whether it would appeal.

“A vocal minority”

The company’s statement is sharp about the councillors who turned it down:

“We are profoundly disappointed and frustrated by the decision of the Sevenoaks District Council Planning Committee to ignore their officers’ recommendation and National Planning Policy and resolve to refuse the application for Stonehouse Park. At a time when Sevenoaks is already falling significantly short on housing delivery and facing an increased requirement for new homes, it is difficult to understand how a scheme that provides benefits of this scale and significance can be turned down, with councillors putting the needs of a vocal minority ahead of the majority of their residents.”

It says the decision “lets down the young people and families who want the opportunity to own a home in the district they call home and all those on the Council’s housing waiting list who would benefit from the substantial affordable home delivery of the scheme.”

It also argues the process itself was wasteful:

“We worked extensively to address the issues raised by the previous proposals and bring forward a substantially revised scheme. Against the backdrop of significant housing under-delivery, increasing future need and a professional recommendation for approval, the decision is deeply frustrating and extremely difficult to justify. It is a perfect example of how the planning system can waste taxpayers’ money, with considerable public resources spent assessing an application only for the professional advice and recommendations of the Council’s own officers to be disregarded.”

The earlier proposals it refers to include the 800-home scheme on the same land refused in 2019.

The housing numbers it relies on

The company’s case rests on how far the district is behind on building. According to its statement and an accompanying briefing note:

  • the government’s latest Housing Delivery Test shows Sevenoaks delivered 25% of its assessed housing requirement over the three years from 2022/23 to 2024/25
  • the emerging Local Plan plans for 17,460 homes between 2027 and 2042, an average of 1,164 a year
  • the council’s own housing needs assessment identifies a net need for 353 affordable homes a year, while on average just 34 a year have been built over the last four years
Bar chart: Quinn Estates says Sevenoaks district needs 353 affordable homes a year, against an average of 34 a year built over the last four years, citing the council's housing needs assessment.
Affordable homes needed and built each year, as quoted by Quinn Estates. Chart by Sevenoaks Online
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“Increasing housing delivery is a national priority and, under current planning policy, Sevenoaks’ level of under-delivery means there is deemed to be an evidenced unmet need for housing,” the statement says. “This site is allocated in that very Local Plan.”

The land is in the draft Local Plan, which is heading to examination by a government inspector. That is a separate process from this planning application, and the allocation is not final until the plan is adopted.

What the scheme would include

The application is in outline, so detailed designs would come later. The briefing note lists:

  • 660 new homes; the statement puts the affordable share at 330 homes, and the briefing note at 53%
  • a retirement village and a care home
  • land for a new primary school
  • community facilities and a village centre
  • more than 80 acres of new public parkland, with around 60% of the former golf course kept as open space
  • new and improved walking, cycling and public transport links

The company says the site has access to nearby rail and bus services. Whether Knockholt station counts as well connected was one of the points councillors argued over before voting to refuse.

What the committee decided

The committee refused the application on two Green Belt grounds: that the site does not qualify as grey belt under the new National Planning Policy Framework, and that no very special circumstances outweigh the harm. Only three members voted for the officers’ recommendation to grant. The full account, with the officers’ warnings about costs at appeal, is in our report on the decision.

The application is reference 25/02129/OUT on the council’s planning portal. If the Secretary of State responds, or Quinn Estates lodges an appeal, we will report it.

Sources

Image: Broke Hill Golf Course by Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.