This has now passed. What this story describes ran until 17 October 2026. We keep it as a record, and the details below were correct when published. For what is current, see News.

The ePetition for football goals at Hollybush in Sevenoaks closed on 17 October with five signatures. What it asked for and where the council's reply will go.

Update, 19 October: the petition has closed. The council’s ePetition page, read on 19 October, says it ran from 13 September to 17 October “and has now finished”, with 5 people signing, the same number as on its first weekend. No council response has been published yet.

Residents petitioned Sevenoaks District Council to install football goals at Hollybush, the recreation ground off Hollybush Lane in Sevenoaks. The ePetition opened on the council’s own system on 13 September and closed on 17 October. (Sevenoaks District Council, ePetition: Football goals at Hollybush)

The petition asks the council “to install football goals at Hollybush Park, giving local children and residents a safe place to play football, stay active and meet up with friends”. Five people had signed by its first weekend, and no one else signed before it closed. (Sevenoaks District Council, ePetition: Football goals at Hollybush)

The case the petition makes

The petitioners’ argument is about who the ground currently serves. The existing playground “mainly serves younger children”, they say, “while older children currently have very limited facilities at the park”.

Their supporting statement makes three points:

  • the ground has a large open field that older children and teenagers could use more
  • goals would be “a relatively simple and cost-effective improvement” encouraging outdoor exercise and giving teenagers a positive place to socialise
  • Hollybush is already an increasingly active park, “with tennis, padel, pickleball, hockey and fitness classes already providing a range of opportunities”

(Sevenoaks District Council, ePetition: Football goals at Hollybush)

That last point reflects a real change at the site. Two of the tennis courts at the Hollybush Tennis Centre on Holmesdale Road were converted into three padel courts under a 2024 planning permission, part of the padel wave we tracked across the district in our padel courts report. (Sevenoaks District Council planning portal, ref. 24/00859/FUL)

Key dates for the Hollybush football goals ePetition: opened on the district council's ePetition system on 13 September 2026, five signatures by 19 September, closes to signatures on 17 October 2026. Anyone who lives, works or studies in the district can sign with a name, address and email
Graphic by Sevenoaks Online
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A ground whose future is already being argued over

The petition lands at a site both councils have been contesting. Hollybush Recreation Ground is owned by Sevenoaks District Council, and Sevenoaks Town Council asked for it to be transferred to the town ahead of local government reorganisation. The district council refused on 21 April 2026, saying a transfer “would materially undermine financial resilience”. (Sevenoaks Town Council, Local Government Reorganisation and potential asset transfers)

The town council’s same page says the district has its own development ideas for the ground, including improving the café provision and potentially enabling residential development to fund park improvements, plans it says were not shared in advance with the town, the sports clubs or residents. If no transfer happens, the ground passes to the new unitary authority when the district council is abolished. (Sevenoaks Town Council, Local Government Reorganisation and potential asset transfers)

What happens next

  • The petition closed to signatures on 17 October with 5 signatures, and can no longer be signed at the council’s ePetition page.
  • The council publishes its responses to closed ePetitions on the same pages, so the reply will appear alongside the petition itself. None had appeared by 19 October.
  • Anyone who lives, works or studies in the district can submit a new ePetition, with a name, an address within the district and an email address. (Sevenoaks District Council, ePetitions)
  • For what the ground and the town’s other green spaces offer today, see our guide to parks and playgrounds in and around Sevenoaks.

Sources

Image: Hollybush Lane Recreation Ground, Sevenoaks. Photo by DS Pugh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.