Sevenoaks District Council Local Plan 2015-2035: Settlement Hierarchy April 2018 Executive Summary p. 2 1. Introduction p. 4 2. Policy Context p. 6 3. District Profile p. 8 4. Approach to the Settlement Hierarchy p. 11 5. Updated Settlement Hierarchy for the Local Plan 2015-2035 p. 15 6. Settlement Profiles p. 22 7. Conclusions p. 24 Page | 2 Executive Summary The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) encourages Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to identify within their Local Plans, appropriate locations for development. These should account for social, economic and environmental opportunities and ensure that the location of development is sustainable. The Settlement Hierarchy is a useful tool to determine the role of settlements, according to a number of factors including population size, services available within a settlement, consideration of Green Belt boundaries and transport connections. The Settlement Hierarchy for Sevenoaks District has 5 settlement classifications, ranking from the most sustainable (Principal Town Centre) to the least sustainable type of settlements (Hamlets): Principal Town – Sevenoaks Urban Area (Sevenoaks Town including Bessels Green, Chipstead, Dunton Green and Riverhead), Towns - Swanley, Edenbridge (including Marlpit Hill) and Westerham Local Service Centres – Hartley, New Ash Green and Otford Villages – West Kingsdown, South Darenth, Hextable, Seal, Brasted, Kemsing, Eynsford, Crockenhill, Halstead, Leigh, Farningham, Sevenoaks Weald, Knockholt (with Knockholt Pound), Sundridge, Shoreham, Four Elms, and Horton Kirby.. Hamlets – Penshurst, Hever, Fawkham, Ide Hill, Chiddingstone, Chiddingstone Causeway, Badgers Mount, Cowden, Underriver, Crockham Hill, Fordcombe, Hodsoll Street, Ash, Stone Street, Mark Beech, Swanley Village, Chiddingstone Hoath, Toys Hill, Well Hill, Chevening, Knatts Valley, Bough Beech, Bitchet Green, Heaverham, Godden Green, Mark Beech and Pratts Bottom. N.B. Settlements which have been underlined are washed over by the Green Belt. While Badgers Mount has been classified as a Hamlet due to limited facilities and services, the settlement has a defined Green Belt boundary. Page | 3 1. Introduction 1.1 In 2011, the Council adopted a Core Strategy which sets out the overarching strategy and vision for the District up to 2026 and identified a number of key strategic policies to how the vision would be delivered. However, the Government has, since then, introduced new national planning policy and guidance, which govern how Local Planning Authorities go about the plan-making process. This includes the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in 2012 and the National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG). 1.2 The Council also adopted its Allocations and Development Management Plan (ADMP) in February 2015, which was found sound at public examination and in line with the NPPF. The ADMP states the Council’s commitment to review its pre-NPPF Core Strategy, so it reflects national policy and guidance. As such, the Council is currently undertaking a review of the Core Strategy and is currently preparing a new Local Plan which will cover the Plan period 2015-2035. To achieve this, the Council is preparing a new evidence base to reflect the current circumstances of Sevenoaks District. Once completed, the new Local Plan will replace the current Core Strategy and ADMP. 1.3 The Settlement Hierarchy for Sevenoaks District is a key piece of evidence that will be used to prepare the emerging Local Plan 2015-2035. It helps to define the role and function of each settlement within the District. This document will help inform the profile of settlements as well as their capacity to accommodate future development requirements. 1.4 The Sevenoaks District has a number of settlements, varying in size, character and function across the District. These include a number of urban areas, villages and hamlets which consist of only a small number of homes. 1.5 The settlement hierarchy is a way of categorising an area’s settlements to recognise their different roles. The hierarchy groups together the settlements that have similar characteristics. At the top of the hierarchy are the larger settlements that fulfil the most functions, have the best infrastructure (facilities and services) and are the most accessible by sustainable forms of transport. The smaller settlements, with fewer functions, infrastructure and transport links are nearer to the bottom of the hierarchy. This will help the Council determine which settlements are most suitable to accommodate additional growth (Figure 1). Page | 4 Settlements with the best access to services (most sustainable) Settlements without access to services (least sustainable) Figure 1 – Example of a Settlement Hierarchy 1.6 The Sevenoaks District Settlement Hierarchy was first prepared in 2007/2008 and subsequently updated in July 2009 and October 2014. The Authority Monitoring Report 2014/15 reports on changes to the 2014 Settlement Hierarchy in accordance with the Core Strategy and ADMP monitoring indicators. 1.7 The purpose of this report is to outline the new Settlement Hierarchy for the Sevenoaks District and how it will help prepare the emerging Local Plan 2015-2035. The Hierarchy: Provides a brief overview of the national and local planning policy context; Describes the broad methodology used to develop the Hierarchy; and Outlines and justifies the classification of each of District’s settlements. Page | 5 2 Policy Context 2.1 National Policy Context 2.1.1 National planning policy states that any development should take place within the most sustainable and deliverable locations. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that a series of land-planning principles should be used when undertaking plan-making and decision-taking, in order to maintain sustainable development. Paragraph 17 of the NPPF outlines the principles of development stating that “[…] every effort should be made objectively to identify and then met the housing business and other development needs of an area and respond positively to wider opportunities to grow”, while promoting “[…] mixed use developments, and encourage multiple benefits from the use of land in urban and rural areas, recognising that some open land can preform many functions (such as wildlife, recreation, flood risk mitigation, carbon storage, or food production)”. 2.1.2 The NPPF additionally states that the plan-making processes for development should “not simply be about scrutiny, but instead be a creative exercise in finding ways to enhance and improve the places in which people live their lives” (paragraph 17). Furthermore, Local authorities should define a network and hierarchy of centres that is resilient to anticipated future economic changes. 2.1.3 The NPPF sets out individual planning policies for specific elements of development, in order to achieving sustainable development. In regards to the development of town centres, paragraph 23 states that local planning authorities should “recognise town centres as the heart of their communities and pursue policies to support their viability and vitality” with “[…] town centres in decline, local planning authorities should plan for positively for their future to encourage economic activity”. This includes the development of strong rural economies, which is important for a majority of settlements within the Sevenoaks District. Paragraph 28 of the NPPF states that Local Authorities should promote and retain the local services and community services within village as these are important community assets. 2.2 Local Policy Context 2.2.1 Sevenoaks District Council is now preparing a new Local Plan. The Council has produced adopted policies through the Sevenoaks District Core Strategy (adopted February 2011) and the Allocations and Development Management Plan (ADMP) (adopted February 2015) to reflect national planning policy and guidance. The over-arching aims of the Core Strategy’s Spatial Vision promote sustainable development within the District in the plan period, up to 2026, including the commitment “to locate development in sustainable locations on previously developed land, ensuring that the main focus for major developments is in Sevenoaks, Swanley and Edenbridge” (ADMP paragraph. 1.5). 2.2.2 The policies within the ADMP are reflective of the adopted policies within the Core Strategy, while maintaining compliance with the NPPF at the national Page | 6 level. ADMP Policy SC1 sets out that all development within the District will be in favour of sustainable development whereby “[…] the Council will take a positive approach that reflects the presumption in favour of sustainable development contained within the National Planning Policy Framework”. 2.2.3 This allows the Sevenoaks District to develop in a positive and sustainable manner. The Council is aware of the constraints that affect development within the District and have adopted policies that take these into account. This accounts to the protection of community services and amenity, within settlements of the District especially rural settlements. The ADMP recognises that local shopping provision is important to many settlements within the District and small scale retail development should be allowed in scale with the settlement. This can be split into town and local centre. A town centre can be defined with uses including: . Retail development (including warehouse clubs and factory outlet centres); . Leisure, entertainment facilities and the more intensive sport and recreation uses (including cinema,