Sevenoaks blocks Land West of Edenbridge Garden Village.
Tandridge District Council has been forced to drop its proposal for a "Garden Village" on land west of Edenbridge after Sevenoaks District Council objected to the scheme.
On 6 October 2017, Sevenoaks District Council wrote to Tandridge stating "the proposal for a Garden Village on Land West of Edenbridge does not form part of SDC's emerging development strategy as outlined in the Issues and Options consultation document and the site offers many constraints that prohibit this scale of development. Therefore, the inclusion of this site within Tandridge's Local Plan is not supported."
On 8 November, Councillor Robert Piper, Sevenoaks District Council's Cabinet Member with responsibility for planning, said: "People in Edenbridge will be relieved to hear Tandridge District Council is no longer pursuing plans to build at least 6,000 new homes on the Green Belt adjoining Edenbridge. We had said all along we did not believe this to be a suitable location for a new village. Our approach is to continue to protect the Green Belt by developing land which is or has been built on or where there are 'exceptional circumstances'. We could never support this proposal to concrete over such a large area of the Green Belt that is valued by Edenbridge residents."
The inclusion of the location in Tandridge District Council's Garden Villages consultation has caused widespread unnecessary worry and distress to residents in the area, part of which is in the Limpsfield ward of OLRG Councillor Phil Davies.
There seems absolutely no justification for its inclusion given that Sevenoaks made clear to Tandridge District Council at a meeting on 3 May - more than three months before the consultation began - that the site was unlikely to go ahead. The minutes of the meeting are copied below.
It is one more example of how Tandridge District Council's Local Plan work is wrong which is why OLRG is challenging it and will continue to do so. Experts have made clear that the work is poor quality, not compliant with national planning policy, and generally not fit for purpose.
The Council is still considering three locations for a garden village which are Blindley Heath, South Godstone, and Redhill Aerodrome. However, the Aerodrome could not be delivered within the Local Plan period because it would need a new junction on the M23.
