Mayers, Mishka

From: John Grint Sent: 26 October 2015 18:52 To: reviews Subject: Electoral Review of : Further Limited Consultation for Attachments: Boundary change proposals.doc

Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged

Dear Sirs,

Please find attached a letter from Badgers Mount Parish Council, commenting on the proposed recommendations for divisions in Sevenoaks.

Regards,

Cllr John Grint

1

Valley division. We strongly oppose the proposal that Badgers Mount should move into the Sevenoaks West division.

5. The reasons for our strong preference to remain within the Darent Valley division are as follows:

(a) Until April 2015, Badgers Mount was part of Shoreham parish, and despite our newly gained independence from Shoreham we retain many close links and continue to work closely together. There is a natural affinity between our two communities and we share many common interests.

(b) In particular, like Shoreham, the parish of Badgers Mount lies almost entirely within the Kent Downs AONB. The protected status afforded by the AONB is extremely important to the residents of Badgers Mount for many reasons, most notably the protection of our countryside and woodlands and the constraints it imposes on planning and development. By contrast, the neighbouring parish of Halstead to the west of Badgers Mount lies predominantly outside the AONB. For much of its length the boundary between the parishes of Badgers Mount and Halstead coincides precisely with the AONB boundary.

(c) Geographically, the village of Badgers Mount is situated at the gateway to the Darent Valley. All the parish councils in the Darent Valley are members of a consortium – the Darent Valley Consortium – with the aim of co-operating on matters of common interest. Badgers Mount is a member of this consortium. Other members include the parishes of Shoreham, , , , and & . Badgers Mount has a long history of working together with these other communities, and we have a natural affinity with the other parishes in the Darent Valley. It would be bizarre, therefore, for Badgers Mount – alone out of all the members of the consortium - to lie outside the Darent Valley division for KCC electoral purposes.

(d) Another matter which links Badgers Mount with Shoreham is our joint interest in the eastern stretch of the , which cuts through both our parishes.

(e) For the past 10 years Badgers Mount has been well served – conspicuously well served - by the current Kent County Councillor for Darent Valley, Cllr Roger Gough. Cllr Gough has provided invaluable support to local residents and the local community over many issues, including planning, highways, education, transport, and, indeed, the creation of our own parish council. He is assiduous in attending and speaking at local meetings, and in attending to local needs. He is highly regarded by the residents of Badgers Mount. Whilst there is of course no guarantee of his continuing to represent Darent Valley following the 2017 elections, local residents would be extremely dismayed to lose the services of such an excellent councillor solely as a result of boundary changes.

6. Turning to the proposal (currently under consultation) that Badgers Mount should become part of the Sevenoaks West division, this has been based solely on electoral arithmetic, not on the interests of the local community, as explained above. But, in addition to this, we also believe strongly that the figures used in the electoral arithmetic are themselves unsound. We do of course understand the need to keep electoral variances to a minimum, but we believe the size of the projected electorates in and Halstead (both lying within the proposed Sevenoaks West division) may be significantly understated, by around 1000 – 1500, as a result of major housing developments. In Dunton Green a major development of 500 homes is already in progress, but is currently less than 50% completed; an increase in the electorate of at least 500-600 may be anticipated by 2020. In Halstead, the SDC Development Control Committee has recently (September 2015) given its approval to a major new development of 450 new homes; an increase in the electorate of around 900 is therefore to be expected. Taken together, these major increases in the projected electorate in Sevenoaks West comprehensively outweigh the population of Badgers Mount of just over 500, thus obviating the need for Badgers Mount to be included in the Sevenoaks West division for the purposes of electoral equality. The timescale for the Halstead development is not yet certain, and may well extend into the 2020s, but we would very much wish to avoid a situation where Badgers Mount is shunted back and forth between divisions - first into Sevenoaks West, and then back into Darent Valley when the Halstead development is complete - simply to make the electoral figures balance.

7. In conclusion, we would like to re-iterate that Badgers Mount Parish Council has a strong preference for the parish to remain within the Darent Valley division, and strongly opposes the proposal that the parish be moved into the Sevenoaks West division.

Yours truly,

Cllr Roy Blamey - Chairman, Badgers Mount Parish Council Cllr John Grint Cllr Tracey McCartney Cllr Gordon Plumb Cllr Noel Wills