Published: Tuesday, 30th April 2024
Hundreds of people had their say on Sevenoaks District Council’s early ideas to regenerate the land around the leisure centre and library in Sevenoaks.
Two in-person information events took place at Sevenoaks Leisure Centre on Wednesday 24 and Saturday 27 April 2024 with an online event on Monday 29 April.
In all, 428 people attended the Leisure Centre events and 49 people joined in online. A further 59 people joined Council-run focus groups.
Cllr Julia Thornton, the Leader of Sevenoaks District Council, says: “In truth, we were actually blown-away by the number of people who took the time to come and hear about our plans and share their views on our early proposals. There seems to be a genuine buzz around this project that has really captured people’s imagination and interest, and in a good and positive way.
“We received so many amazing ideas, some were brand new, some were improvements on ones we’d already included in our initial plans and some raised very specific concerns or questions about the different elements of the proposals. But all useful feedback, and we are currently going through all the comments in detail so that we can feed them into the next part of the process which is to draw up a more detailed development brief.
“Although our in-person and online sessions have now passed, local people can still have their say until midnight on Monday 6 May.”
To view the Council’s ideas and complete its survey, go to www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/haveyoursay.
Sevenoaks District Council and Kent County Council own property and land around Buckhurst Lane and Suffolk Way, immediately to the East of Sevenoaks High Street.
Their early ideas for the area include a new energy efficient leisure facility, a combined library, art gallery, museum and adult education centre, improved pedestrian links to Knole Park, a new vibrant market hall and a hotel to support the local economy. The plan would also allow for some land to be released for new homes, providing some much needed affordable housing right in the heart of the town as well as market housing to help fund the leisure improvements.
- More articles in the news archive
- Sevenoaks District Council news RSS feed