Please see our latest minutes

Welcome to the Swanley Neighbourhood Plan

NEW – Swanley Neighbourhood Plan Reg 14 Document (March 2023)

In 2014, Sevenoaks District Council agreed the following area could be covered by a Neighbourhood Plan to be developed by local residents in Partnership with Swanley Town Council.  You can see the details of this here

Run your mouse over the map to magnify it.

[zoom size=thumbnail]

As you can see from the map it covers the whole of Swanley Town Councils area which includes Swanley Village.

Things got off to a slow start but since 2018 work has been taking place led by local residents to develop the Neighbourhood Plan.

This will guide the development of land and buildings in the Town, as an addition to Sevenoaks Local Plan which looks at the District as a whole and is currently being updated.  You can get updates about this here

We know a lot of local people and organisations are concerned about the future development of the Town and the Neighbourhood Plan can help to ensure development reflects that local people want and need

On this page you can find out:

  • What Neighbourhood Planning is and how it can help Swanley to be a better place
  • About the people involved in developing the Neighbourhood Plan and how they are organised to do the work
  • What local people have said about development of Swanley Town
  • The progress made on the Neighbourhood Plan – it’s vision and objectives, it’s overall structure, individual topics
  • How you can get involved and make contact

We are planning to hold a consultation about the progress we have made in 2020, but the current COVID crisis means we have to think about how this can be best done given that not everyone can participate in video conference calls.

We will continue to add content to this page as things progress, including details of meetings of the Steering Group and Working Groups.

What Neighbourhood Planning is and how it can help Swanley to be a better place

Sevenoaks Council has a legal duty to create a plan for land and buildings covering the whole of the District.

Their Local Plan is a District-wide plan that says what can be built and where up to 2035.

Sevenoaks is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan.

In the same way that the Local Plan is governed by a legislative framework set out in law and regulations the Swanley Neighbourhood Plan has to fit within its own regulations.

This includes the need for the Swanley Neighbourhood Plan to be produced so that it cannot ignore what the Local Plan for Sevenoaks says but sets out in detail what Swanley wants and needs as a neighbourhood within it.

Once agreed, both the Sevenoaks Local Plan and the Swanley Neighbourhood Plan will be used to help decide planning applications.

As such, both Plans have the potential to have an important impact on Swanley and its people, businesses and visitors over a long term.

The Neighbourhood Plan cannot stop developers making planning applications, but it can ensure that when they are received by Sevenoaks Council, decisions can be made about them that legally have to take into account Neighbourhood Plan policies and proposals developed by local people and organisations.

What Neighbourhood Planning is and how it can help Swanley to be a better place

What A Neighbourhood Plan Can Do For Swanley

What local people have said about the development of Swanley Town

The survey undertaken for the NP in 2018 found that the majority of people who responded said that:

  • They valued Swanley’s parks and open spaces, its rural character and access to the countryside
  • They were concerned about air pollution and traffic volumes and speeds
  • The provision of community facilities in Swanley were a concern in relation to indoor sports facilities, community centres and children’s play facilities
  • There was a need for new homes in Swanley and that it should be predominantly at 30 homes per hectare in terms of density
  • All Green Belt and open spaces should be protected from development and its impacts
  • High rise development was not suitable to Swanley and should be three to four storey in the Town Centre and 3 storey in the rest of Swanley
  • HGV traffic needed better control, access to the A20 was needed and more cycling paths/facilities were needed
  • New shops (particularly for groceries) were needed in the Town
  • More employment space was needed in the town
  • New visitor accommodation was needed
  • More car parking in the Town Centre was needed

You can download the whole survey analysis HERE

The People involved in developing the Neighbourhood Plan and how they are organised to do the work

A neighbourhood Plan can only be prepared by a “qualifying body” and it has to go through several steps

The progress made on the Neighbourhood Plan – Vision and Objectives

In 2018 a total of 7,500 questionnaires about the Neighbourhood Plan were distributed to residents of Swanley over a two week period commencing 19 August 2018.

Read More Here …

Progress made on the Neighbourhood Plan – Structure of the plan

Read more here

Progress made on the NP – Individual topics

Includes: Conservation and Heritage, Community Infrastructure, Housing, Transport, Work and Employment

How you can get involved and make contact

We are always interested in hearing from local residents or businesses about the progress we are making and welcoming them to get involved via joining a Working Group or the Steering Group.

You can contact us by e mailing us at np@swanleytowncouncil.gov.uk or writing to us at Swanley Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
c/o Swanley Town Council
Alexandra Suite
St Mary’s Rd
Swanley BR8 7BU

The CEO Ryan Hayman, is looking for residents and organisations who would like to get involved in this process, which will help to shape the future of the town.

There will be monthly and quarterly meetings of theme groups and surveys for people to complete.

We need your contact details and would like you to contact us via the form, where you can fill in your details. Download the leaflet with more details

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Data Protection

We will only process your personal data in order to respond to your enquiry. Your details will be stored electronically but will not be passed on to any other organisations without your consent. For more information, refer to our privacy statement.

Swanley Neighbourhood Plan Minutes of Steering Group Meetings

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018