Council considers feedback on plans for 2,500 homes

The 2,500 development is planned for Pedham Place Golf Centre, near Swanley

Councillors are considering feedback from residents on plans to build thousands of new houses on green belt land in Kent.

Sevenoaks District Council is including proposals for a 2,500-home village at Pedham Place, near junction three of the M25, in its local plan.

Protesters from campaign group Save the Green Belt Together said the idea was “utterly ridiculous”.

But the council is under pressure to come up with a plan for building homes after its last set of proposals were rejected by the government’s planning inspectorate, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One-third of the 5,300 respondents backed a new settlement at Pedham Place – although the validity of the survey was questioned by some.

Farningham resident Ian Gray said: “I think the site is utterly ridiculous and it depends on people having access to a car. That’s unrealistic both at present and in the future."

Wasps rugby team previously expressed an interest in building a 28,000-seater stadium, training ground and hotel across the M25 from Pedham Place golf course.

Local councils need to produce local plans to allocate sites for housing and commercial development.

The council will allow 10,680 homes to be built from 2025 to 2040 under its local plan.

It will now consider the feedback it received from the public consultation, before publishing a final draft later this year.