After rather a lot of hard work going through all the documents on the planning portal, the NEDRA response has been submitted. You can read it below. If you are not keen on reading 46 pages, then the summary (pages 1-3) gives you a good idea of our position on this site.
NEDRA Response 2402765OUT
So things have moved on since July and a revised planning application is now on the Sevenoaks District Council planning portal. Our newsletter below has further details on that. We are encouraging everybody to respond to this. The deadline for response is 28 November and the link to search for the planning application is www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/online-applications. Once there you just need to paste the reference 24/02765/OUT into the search box.
Between July and November, NEDRA got in touch with Kent County Council (KCC) to find out more about the probability and viability of a new school. We did this, because during the summer we were told, by the developer, that the school site would be moved to the front of the development and because of this, extra greenbelt would have to be taken for another 103 homes on top of the 340 homes already proposed for the site. The embedded letter below is the response from Kent County Council. For those who want to cut to the chase (although we do encourage you to read the letter in full), we will NOT be getting a new school unless Edenbridge gets, at the very least, 1475-2225 new homes, on top of the now 450 homes proposed for Four Elms. This is of course completely in line with what is said in the Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2024-2028 (scroll down to find this on the page). When we put this to Edenbridge Town Council at a recent planning meeting, they did not pass the new Four Elms application, pending further enquiries with KCC.
Here is the correspondence between NEDRA and KCC.
[Note there is mention of Edenbridge and ‘environs‘ which relates to villages around us, none of which are mentioned on the local plan. The numbers of new homes mentioned are therefore likely to be in Edenbridge, which is one of the towns mentioned in the local plan].
NEDRA KCC Comms ALL on School Redacted
Here is our newsletter, going out to 5,000 residents of Edenbridge in November.
FINAL NEDRA Newsletter November 2024
NEDRA has carefully reviewed the proposals for the development of the Land South of Four Elms Road in Edenbridge and submitted a comprehensive response. Our response highlights key concerns regarding the impact on Greenbelt land, local biodiversity, flood risks, and the character of our community. While we acknowledge some positive elements in the revised plans, we strongly oppose the expansion into additional Greenbelt land for housing, over and above what has been already agreed in the outline planning permission.
You can read our full response below, as well as see slides we used at our public meeting 17 July 2024 when we discussed this consultation.
NEDRA Response
19 July Provision Consultation Response
Appendix 1
Appendix 1 - Letter to Cooper Estates
Appendix 2
Appendix 2 - Education Plan KCC 2024-2028
Appendix 3
Appendix 3 - Email to ETC Town Clerk 2016
Slides from Public Meeting 17 July 2024
NEDRA Four Elms Slides Public Meeting 17Jul2024