Half the new bin lorries due by 12 October, stricter housing register rules, CCTV upgrade dates and a parking choice: every council meeting from 1 to 8 October.

Only about half of the district’s new bin lorries will have arrived by the end of September, a council report says. Hired vehicles will fill the gap when fortnightly collections start on 12 October.

The report goes to Sevenoaks District Council’s Cleaner & Greener Advisory Committee on Thursday. So do next year’s parking charges, which we have reported separately. Next Tuesday, another committee looks at who can join the housing register.

Here is what each meeting in the coming week covers. All are in the Council Chamber, Argyle Road, Sevenoaks.

Date Meeting Main business
Tue 29 Sep, 7pm Improvement & Innovation Advisory Committee Cancelled
Thu 1 Oct, 7pm Cleaner & Greener Advisory Committee Bins, parking charges, CCTV
Tue 6 Oct, 7pm Housing & Health Advisory Committee Housing register rules, homelessness strategy
Thu 8 Oct, 10.30am Licensing Hearing Swanley Service Station 24-hour alcohol bid
Thu 8 Oct, 7pm Development & Infrastructure Advisory Committee Agenda not yet published

Thursday: bins, parking and CCTV

The bin switch. Alternate weekly collections with wheelie bins start on Monday 12 October. The progress report says the project is “on track” and within budget. It lists these points (Waste Transition Project progress, third update):

  • about 20,000 wheelie bins, 44% of planned deliveries, had been delivered by the end of August
  • around 50% of the new lorries will be delivered by the end of September, so short-term hire is needed at the start
  • West Kent Housing Association’s new chief executive has said not all its blocks of flats can be changed in time, so some will have temporary collection arrangements after 12 October
  • garden waste will switch to the same week as the black bin; about 3,200 of the 17,000 subscribers get an extra collection between 12 and 19 October so none waits three weeks
  • every household gets a postcard before the start saying whether its first collection is rubbish or recycling

Officers call fleet availability “a material mobilisation risk”, but say they are confident there will be enough lorries on 12 October.

The green sacks. The reusable green recycling sacks cannot go out with the new mixed recycling, the report says, because the sorting plant will not accept them. You can keep them, or the council will collect unwanted sacks separately in early 2027, after Christmas.

Food waste. Weekly food caddies collected 952 tonnes in the four months to 27 August, about 52 tonnes a week now. Tonnage fell by about 10% over the summer.

For New Ash Green, which has its own arrangement, see our report on the estate’s collection zones.

Parking charges for 2027/28. Councillors are asked to choose between a 2.5% rise on everything, or a freeze with cash taken out of the machines and £5 weekend parking at the council offices car park. Cabinet decides on 20 October. Full details: Sevenoaks car parks could stop taking cash from April.

CCTV. The council runs 144 cameras, and its transmission system dates from 1997. Chroma Vision Ltd won the contract for the digital upgrade in July. The planned dates are (CCTV upgrade progress update):

  • wireless network in Sevenoaks town centre: 22 September to 19 October
  • control room server upgrade: 26 October to 13 November
  • camera installation: 16 November to 18 December

The report says some cameras sit on private buildings, and permissions for some sites are still a risk. It expects the existing system to keep working while the wireless network goes in.

Next Tuesday: who can join the housing register

The Housing & Health Advisory Committee looks at a new Housing Allocations Policy on 6 October. It decides who can join the council’s housing register and who is offered homes first. The changes would take effect on 11 January 2027 if Full Council adopts them on 1 December. (Housing Allocations Policy 2026 to 2031, report)

The main proposals, with the share of consultation respondents who agreed, are:

  • Over-55s applying for over-55s housing would have to show a local connection, like everyone else (58% agreed)
  • Working in the district would no longer count as a local connection; 26 people on the register in August worked here but lived elsewhere (42.6% agreed)
  • No bid for 12 months means removal from the register, with a 12-month bar on rejoining; 97 applicants were in that position in August (83% agreed)
  • Two offers only: refusing a second offer means removal and a 12-month bar (57% agreed)
  • Separate bedrooms for same-sex children would start at 21, not 18 (40% agreed)
  • Adult children over 21 would no longer count as part of the household unless they cannot live alone (53% agreed)
  • Rent arrears over £1,000 would bar joining; under £1,000, you could join but not bid until paid off or on a payment plan, with exceptions including domestic abuse and homelessness (77% agreed)

The consultation ran from 4 May to 24 July. It drew 291 responses from customers and 30 from partners and stakeholders. The report says everyone already on the register would be reassessed under the new rules and told of any change to their band.

The same meeting considers:

  • the Homelessness and Rough Sleeper Strategy 2026 to 2031, built around prevention, intervention and long-term housing, which would take effect on 4 December (report); our earlier report on the draft strategy has the register figures
  • a revised Private Sector Housing Enforcement Policy, rewritten for the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (report)
  • a new Tenancy Strategy for housing associations working in the district (report)

Thursday 8 October

The morning Licensing Hearing decides whether Swanley Service Station on London Road can sell alcohol 24 hours a day. Six neighbours object. Our report: Swanley petrol station bids to sell alcohol 24 hours a day.

The Development & Infrastructure Advisory Committee meets that evening. Its agenda had not been published when we checked on 29 September.

Later in October

  • Tuesday 13 October: Sevenoaks Joint Transportation Board
  • Thursday 15 October: Development Management Committee
  • Tuesday 20 October: Cabinet, which takes the parking decision
  • Wednesday 21 October and Tuesday 27 October, 10.30am: two more Licensing Hearings; the premises are named when the agendas are published
  • Thursday 22 October: Scrutiny Committee

What it means for you

Thursday’s agenda lists no exempt items, so the whole meeting is held in public. Papers for each meeting are on the council’s meetings calendar. Check your first fortnightly collection on our bin collection days page.

Sources

Image: Sevenoaks District Council Offices by Richard Kelly, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.