Sevenoaks District Plan - future for Hartley and New Ash Green
Published in Housing · Wednesday 22 Jul 2026 · 2:00
On 23 July Sevenoaks Council published its "Regulation 19" consultation on their draft district plan. This is the last chance for the public to comment and the consultation runs until 17 September 2026.
The plan sets out the ground rules for development in the district between 2027 and 2042. In particular the council needed to find ways to meet the government's housing target of 17,460 new homes over the next 15 years, to meet national housing shortages. About 4,750 already have planning permission and are not yet built, and this figure includes a 'windfall allowance', small unplanned for developments, for example a single house built in someone's garden.
Because 93% of the district is green belt, it would be impossible for the council to accommodate the extra development on just 7% of the land. Therefore they have been forced to reclassify some green belt as "grey belt", that is land near an existing settlement or rail station in a sustainable location. What is sustainable depends on existing services, Hartley and New Ash Green are classed as primary service settlements, and were therefore classed as eminently sustainable locations. Indeed because Hartley is seen as a virtual suburb of Longfield, it scored particularly highly on this measure.
Landowners were asked to submit sites for consideration, and the table below shows those in Hartley and New Ash Green which the council have accepted. Not all sites were accepted. The council rejected proposals for housing at Lower Slides Farm, New Ash Green, and Brambledown, Hartley.
The number of dwellings may end up higher. Draft Policy H7 says developers of land next to edge of primary service settlements should aim for 40-60 dwellings per hectare.
| Ref | Site | Area | Houses |
| ST2-31 | The Forge, Ash | 0.28 ha | 12 |
| ST3-1 | Land at Ash Road, Hartley | 0.5 ha | 17 |
| ST3-2 | Fawkham Business Park, Fawkham Road | 0.67 ha | 28 |
| ST3-3 | Orchard Farm, Fawkham Road | 0.81 ha | 34 |
| ST4-21 | Melsetta, Church Road, Hartley | 0.38 ha | 14 |
| ST4-22 | Grosvenor, Church Road, Hartley | 0.52 ha | 20 |
| ST4-23 | Land adjacent to Downs Valley, Hartley | 6.09 ha | 190 |
| ST4-25 | Land west of New Ash Green | 15.54 ha | 280 |
| ST4-26 | Land south of Redhill Road, New Ash Green | 43.2 ha | 530 |