1,783 people have signed a petition against 1,500 homes on Green Belt between Otford and Sevenoaks. Campaigners have asked the developer to withdraw.

More than 1,700 people have signed a petition against plans for about 1,500 homes between Otford, Sevenoaks and Dunton Green. The count stood at 1,783 on Wednesday evening. (Change.org, Stop 1,500 Houses on Our Green Belt)

The petition was launched on 9 October by the Otford Protection Committee, which is part of the Otford Society. It opposes the proposal by Fairfax Properties for the site known as ST4-7 in the district’s draft Local Plan. (The Otford Society)

What the campaigners are asking

The committee sent Fairfax an open letter on 19 October, with 1,377 signatures collected by then. That was the day of the company’s public consultation.

The letter asks Fairfax to withdraw its proposals for the site. It makes two main arguments:

  • Infrastructure. It says roads, public transport, schools, health services and utilities are already under strain, before the 950 homes approved at Sevenoaks Quarry are built.
  • Green Belt. It says the land is the open countryside separating local communities. It does not accept that the land should be classed as Grey Belt.

The letter also cites two surveys of local opinion. It says 92% of those answering the Otford Society’s 2025 village survey opposed building on the site, with 4% in support. It puts Otford Parish Council’s survey in July this year at 93% against and 0.9% in support.

The committee says it will object “at every stage”: at the Local Plan examination, at any planning application and in any later process. (Otford Protection Committee, open letter, 19 October 2026)

What is proposed

No detailed planning application has been submitted, the petition says. The site is one of the strategic sites in the council’s draft plan.

The development brief covers around 1,500 homes on 106.5 hectares. It includes a new primary school with a nursery, a local centre, a bus corridor and a public park on the River Darent floodplain. Our report on the brief has the detail. Kent Wildlife Trust’s concerns about its Sevenoaks reserve are covered separately.

We could not find consultation material published by Fairfax. We will add its response when we have it.

What it means for you

A petition does not decide this. The council’s Local Plan page says the plan and the comments made on it will go to the Government later this year, and a planning inspector will examine it in 2027. Our Local Plan report explains how that works.

The formal comment period closed on 17 September. The petition is separate from that process.

Sources

Image: Farmland near Rye Lane, Dunton Green. Photo by DS Pugh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph.