Sevenoaks District Council news
Sevenoaks District Council news, newest first: budgets, committee decisions, council tax and licensing, each story linked back to the official papers.
Top story
Sevenoaks children can design a real Christmas light
Sevenoaks Town Council will turn one child's drawing into a working Christmas light outside the House in the Basement youth cafe. Entries close on 17 September and it is open to under-12s.
More stories
Bins
Sevenoaks bins from 6am, Monday 10 to Friday 14 August
Sevenoaks crews start at 6am from Monday 10 to Friday 14 August: put bins out the night before, because there is no return visit if yours is missed.
Planning
Sevenoaks planning applications: 43 lodged to 7 August
43 applications hit the Sevenoaks register in the week to 7 August, led by a Green Belt traveller site at Horton Kirby. Comments on it close 27 August.
Otford
Otford by-election: green belt slate sweeps all three seats
All three Otford Parish Council seats went to Save Otford's Green Belt candidates on 23 July, on a 31.6% turnout, as the village fights a 203-home allocation.
Pubs
Kings Arms Westerham: Greene King's 1am licence bid heard
Greene King wants the Kings Arms open to 1.30am at weekends with a revived basement bar. Six neighbours objected, and a licensing panel heard it on 28 July.
Pubs
Fleur De Lis Leigh: premises licence bid filed on 27 July
The Sevenoaks licensing register logs a premises licence application for the Fleur De Lis on Leigh High Street, received on 27 July, ref 26/03334/LAPRE.
Riverhead
Riverhead puts the A25 zebra crossing first and is holding back its reserves to pay for it
Riverhead Parish Council's 2026 Highway Improvement Plan names the London Road zebra crossing as its top priority, and the council has turned down other spending to build the reserves behind a funding bid.
Planning
Homes plan for car park behind Otford High Street leads week's planning list
A permission-in-principle bid for up to four homes on a car park behind Otford High Street is the only new housing proposal among 22 planning applications validated across the Sevenoaks district in the week to 31 July 2026.
Waste
Sevenoaks bin crews back on 6am starts as heatwave returns for the last week of July
Sevenoaks District Council is again running waste, recycling and food waste collections from 6am, until Friday 31 July 2026, as a fresh hot spell hits. UKHSA has an amber heat-health alert for the South East from 29 to 30 July.
Planning
A 20m phone mast for Westerham among 38 planning applications lodged this week
A 20-metre telecoms monopole at Westerham Bowls Club leads the 38 planning applications validated across the Sevenoaks district in the week to 24 July, alongside new homes at Crockenhill and a warehouse demolition at Otford.
Planning
Councillors approve the £40m Land East loan after a bid for more oversight is defeated
Sevenoaks councillors have signed off a loan facility of up to £40m with Wates for the Land East of the High Street scheme. An amendment to bring the final agreement back to Council was voted down.
Health
Sevenoaks disabled facilities grants: 55-day target agreed
Sevenoaks councillors agreed to hold disabled facilities grants to the 55 and 130-day national targets, but the proposed MND fast track was amended out.
Transport
Sevenoaks EV charging: 11 of 26 wards have none
Eleven of the district's 26 wards have no public EV charger, councillors were told on 14 July, as a seven-point Green climate motion was cut to two pledges.
Planning
Local Plan consultation opens on 23 July: how to have your say on 17,460 homes
The final public consultation on Sevenoaks District Council's Local Plan opens on Thursday 23 July and runs eight weeks to 17 September. Here is the council's confirmed portal, email and postal address for comments, and how to make yours count.
News
Sevenoaks District Council to be abolished and folded into a new West Kent council
The Government has decided Sevenoaks District Council will be scrapped in 2028 and replaced by a West Kent unitary council covering Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone. What changes, and when.
Planning
Sevenoaks committee defies officers on Underriver stables
Councillors went against officers on 9 July, saying an Underriver stable block would harm the National Landscape. Badgers Mount and Riverhead were granted.
Planning
Councillors decide tonight on the £40m loan for the Land East regeneration
Sevenoaks Full Council meets on 14 July to sign off a loan of up to £40m for the Land East of the High Street scheme, a new leisure centre, homes and public realm to be built with Wates. Here is exactly what councillors are being asked to approve.
Waste
Sevenoaks households get wheelie bins from October as recycling service is overhauled
Sevenoaks District Council will deliver around 100,000 wheelie bins from mid-July, start kerbside glass collections, and move to alternate weekly waste and recycling from 12 October 2026. The green recycling bags are being scrapped.
Waste
Sevenoaks bin crews start at 6am until 17 July as heat alert bites
Sevenoaks District Council is running waste, recycling and food waste collections from 6am until Friday 17 July 2026 during the heatwave, and wants bins out the night before. An amber heat-health alert covers the South East from 8 to 12 July.
Planning
Cabinet approves final Local Plan consultation: how to have your say from 23 July
Sevenoaks District Council's Cabinet has approved its revised Local Plan for a final public consultation, giving residents until 17 September to comment on 17,460 planned homes. Here is how to respond.
Housing
Work starts on 60 homes at the old White Oak Leisure Centre site in Swanley
Building has begun on 60 homes on part of the former White Oak Leisure Centre site in Swanley. The council-backed scheme, built by Skillcrown, helps pay back the cost of the £22m leisure centre that opened in 2022.
Housing
Sevenoaks council to consult on new homelessness strategy as housing register reaches 1,142
Sevenoaks District Council will consult residents on a new five-year homelessness strategy from 13 July to 21 August. Its housing register now holds 1,142 households. Here is what the plan and the figures show.
Planning
Green belt homes at Badgers Mount head to Sevenoaks planning committee on 9 July
Two homes at Badgers Mount, a much-altered house at Riverhead and a stable block at Underriver all go before Sevenoaks councillors on 9 July. Officers recommend all three for approval, each called in by a ward councillor.
Planning
Edenbridge 135-home green belt scheme granted by Sevenoaks committee
Sevenoaks councillors granted outline permission for up to 135 homes on green belt land south of Phillippines Close, Edenbridge, after lawyers warned that deferring the decision would be a material error of law. The draft minutes confirm the outcome.
Housing
Spitals Cross Edenbridge: £10.3m rebuild, 23 new homes
Edenbridge's Spitals Cross estate is in the final phase of a £10.3m rebuild: 23 affordable homes, a replacement community hall and shop, all due this autumn.
Planning
Sevenoaks Local Plan: 17,460 homes, 810 at Broke Hill
The revised Sevenoaks Local Plan raises the housing target to 17,460 homes and adds Broke Hill golf course, Brittains Lane and 160 London Road as new sites.
Waste
Sevenoaks bin collections start an hour earlier during the heatwave
Sevenoaks District Council is starting waste and recycling collections an hour earlier from 22 to 26 June 2026 because of the hot weather, and is asking residents to put their sacks and food waste bins out by 6am on their collection day.
Planning
Sevenoaks planning committee, 18 June: 3 of 4 granted
Councillors granted eight Traveller pitches at Farningham, up to nine homes at Ash and a Halstead extension on 18 June. Edenbridge's 135 homes await a decision.
Community
Sevenoaks names its 2026 community heroes at Making it Happen awards
Twelve winners, from DAVSS to a lifetime achievement award for Jan Berry, were honoured at Sevenoaks District Council's Making it Happen Community and Voluntary Awards on 18 June 2026, after more than 100 nominations.
Community
Council backs more than £2m of works at Edenbridge Leisure Centre
Sevenoaks District Council has agreed to spend more than £2 million on Edenbridge Leisure Centre, with a new sports hall roof, refitted changing village and replacement heating planned between now and 2027.
Business
Cabinet appoints Wates to deliver new Sevenoaks leisure centre and town-centre scheme
Sevenoaks District Council's Cabinet has appointed Wates as preferred contractor for the £138m Land East of the High Street regeneration, with a new leisure centre, homes and a market hall. Full Council votes on the funding on 14 July.
Planning
Ash Church End: nine homes back before councillors
Officers backed up to nine homes on green belt at Church End, Ash Road, three months after refusing a near-identical scheme over a high-pressure gas pipeline.
Planning
Land East Sevenoaks: Wates picked, £40m loan on table
Officers asked Cabinet to appoint Wates for the land east of Sevenoaks High Street and back a £40m loan for a new leisure centre, homes and public realm.
Community
The Stag Sevenoaks: officers back £650,000 transfer
Officers recommended handing the Stag to Sevenoaks Town Council for £650,000, or a 30-year lease. A late commercial bid complicates the 16 June vote.
Planning
Farningham Traveller site: backed after 2023 refusal
Officers backed eight Gypsy and Traveller pitches at Farningham Hill Stud, A20, two years after refusing an identical scheme, citing a 181-pitch shortfall.
Planning
Edenbridge 135 homes: officers back plan, 151 objections
Planning officers recommended up to 135 homes on green belt south of Phillippines Close, Edenbridge, despite 151 objections. Councillors granted it on 18 June.
Transport
Bessels Green A25 crossing ruled out: 16 users a day
Kent County Council has ruled out an A25 pedestrian crossing at Bessels Green: surveys found 16 people crossing in 24 hours on a road too narrow for an island.
Planning
Sevenoaks planning applications: 30 lodged in a week
Thirty planning applications were validated across the Sevenoaks district in the week from 1 June 2026, led by outline housing at New Ash Green and Kemsing.
Planning
Councillors refuse 235-acre New Ash Green solar farm despite £400,000 appeal warning
Sevenoaks councillors have refused a 72,000-panel solar farm on 235 acres between Ridley and New Ash Green, voting against their own planning officers' advice and a developer warning of a £400,000 cost award at appeal.
Community
The Stag's future: council offers town a £650,000 buyout or a 30-year lease
Sevenoaks District Council has offered the town council two ways to secure the Stag Community Arts Centre long term: buy it outright for £650,000, or take a new 30-year lease at a peppercorn rent. A decision runs through three meetings this summer.
Recycling
Sevenoaks recycling hits record high as food waste rounds collect 220 tonnes in a month
Sevenoaks District Council says its new weekly food waste collections gathered 220 tonnes in their first month and lifted the district's recycling rate by 6 per cent, putting it in the top quarter of Kent councils.
Planning
Sevenoaks planning decisions: two new-build schemes refused, Oakhill Road revamp approved
Sevenoaks councillors refused two residential schemes and approved a house revamp at their 21 May meeting, turning down five flats off St James Road and two homes at Bessels Green. Here is what was decided and what it means for residents.
News
Sevenoaks District Council news: bins and 2.98% tax rise
Two free wheelie bins and kerbside glass from autumn 2026, weekly food waste, and a 2.98% council tax rise. What each Sevenoaks council decision means for you.
Bins
Sevenoaks Bin Collection Days: Check Yours + 12 Oct Switch
Find your collection day, then note 12 October 2026: that is when Sevenoaks switches to wheelie bins. Put one out before then and it will not be emptied.
Parking
Parking in Sevenoaks: from £1.10 an hour, £5.30 all day
Every council car park and on-street bay priced: £1.10 an hour at Morewood Close, £5.30 all day on Plymouth Drive, and free on bank holidays.
Local Info
Sevenoaks Council Tax Bands 2026/27: Band A-H Charges
Band D in Sevenoaks town is £2,563.23 for 2026/27. Look up your own bill: every band, A to H, in all 31 parishes, from £2,452 in Brasted to £2,615 in Edenbridge.
Recycling
Sevenoaks Tip Opening Times: 8am to 4.30pm, Book First
Sevenoaks tip at Dunbrik opens 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday, 9am to 4pm Sunday, and you cannot get in without booking. Swanley times and charges too.
Planning
Sevenoaks Planning Portal: Direct Link, 21 Days to Object
Search any Sevenoaks application by postcode or reference on Public Access, free and with no account. You get 21 days to comment; what actually counts is set out here.