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The latest Sevenoaks news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.

Top story Sevenoaks GCSE results 2026: 42 grade 9s at Trinity Trinity logged 42 grades at 9 and Sevenoaks School put 47 per cent of all entries there. Every figure five schools published, and the rows that judge them. · 12 min read

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Environment Sevenoaks hosepipe ban: what is banned, and the £1,000 fine Kent is in drought and the Darent is near its record low. Which hosepipe ban covers your street, what it bans, what is exempt and the £1,000 fine. · 8 min read What's On Great Comp Garden art exhibition: 29 to 31 August, £10.50 Anna Clement's paintings of the garden go on show in the manor house Garden Room, 29 to 31 August. Free to view; garden entry is £10.50 until 1 September. · 3 min read Business Number Eight Sevenoaks: Café Royal chef cooks 23 September Kevin Gratton of the Café Royal Grill cooks at Number Eight on Wednesday 23 September. It is £85 a head for four courses, Atul Kochhar on 18 November. · 4 min read Business JETMS Completions liquidation: Biggin Hill firms wound up JETMS Completions and Waypoint Aerotec were wound up at a Teams meeting on 5 August, and joint liquidators are now in charge of both Biggin Hill firms. · 5 min read Property Sevenoaks house prices June 2026: down £6,025 to £543,081 The district average slipped 1.1% in June to £543,081, and May's record was revised down £4,646. Sevenoaks is still Kent's dearest area by £97,948. · 5 min read Data Sevenoaks unemployment claims hit 1,665, a 2022 high July's count reached 1,665, the highest since January 2022. Claims from 18 to 24 year olds are up by a third in a year, while the 25 to 49 group has fallen. · 6 min read Schools Halstead Nursery graded strong in all six Ofsted areas Ofsted grades the 40-place Halstead village nursery strong standard in every one of its six areas, with safeguarding met. It is the setting's first inspection since it re-registered in 2024. · 4 min read Community Sevenoaks children can design a real Christmas light Sevenoaks Town Council will turn one child's drawing into a working Christmas light outside the House in the Basement youth cafe. Entries close on 17 September and it is open to under-12s. · 2 min read Planning Sevenoaks School boarding house: listed consent granted Consent for 18 en-suite bedrooms, lifts and links through six listed High Street houses was granted on 10 August, over the council's own conservation officer and the Town Council. The full application is still undecided. · 8 min read Planning 1,500 homes north of Sevenoaks: what the brief promises A new two-form primary school with nursery, a bigger Dunton Green Primary, a bus link between the stations, a one-way Rye Lane and a floodplain park: the brief for the district's biggest site. Comment by 17 September. · 11 min read Planning Brittains Lane 284 homes: residents' walk on 23 August Three residents' associations are walking the fields off Brittains Lane on Sunday 23 August, where the draft Local Plan earmarks 284 homes on two grey belt sites. Comments close 17 September. · 6 min read Knockholt Knockholt fostering agency All4u rated Good by Ofsted Ofsted judges the Knockholt-based agency, which places 57 children with 47 fostering households, Good in all three areas, down from Outstanding in 2023, with two requirements and five recommendations. · 5 min read Schools The View School Edenbridge: strong in three Ofsted areas Ofsted puts behaviour, inclusion and personal development above the expected standard at the Edenbridge special school, and safeguarding met. It also found 27 pupils on roll against a registered 26. · 5 min read Westerham Westerham padel courts planned for King George's Field Westerham Town Council says operator Padel Up will fully fund padel courts and a half basketball court on the town's playing field, at no cost to the taxpayer. No planning application has been lodged yet. · 4 min read Schools Sevenoaks A level results 2026: Trinity's best ever again Trinity reports its best ever A levels and Walthamstow Hall 50.7 per cent at A*/A. Every figure Sevenoaks schools published, and how the South East compares. · 7 min read Schools Oaks Day Nursery Swanley: strong in two Ofsted areas Ofsted puts achievement and inclusion above the expected standard at the 39-place Swanley nursery, safeguarding met. What the June inspection found. · 4 min read Property Sevenoaks house prices up £20,952 in a year to £553,752 The district average hit £553,752 in May, up 3.9% in a year while Tunbridge Wells, Bromley and Dartford stood still. Land Registry figures by property type. · 5 min read Riverhead Chipstead Lane yellow lines: object or support by 31 August KCC wants no waiting Monday to Saturday, 8am to noon, on three stretches of Chipstead Lane's north side, partly so bin lorries can get through. Responses close at noon on 31 August. · 4 min read Transport M25 lorry fire shut motorway near Westerham from 5.15pm A lorry fire shut the M25 anticlockwise between junctions 5 and 6 from 5.15pm on Monday, with six miles of queues near Clacket Lane services. No one was hurt. · 3 min read Business Biggin Hill aircraft firm JetMS heads into liquidation JETMS Completions and Waypoint Aerotec, both at Biggin Hill, called creditors' meetings for 5 August. Accounts show 49 staff and £2.4m of net liabilities. · 6 min read Council Sevenoaks bins from 6am, Monday 10 to Friday 14 August Sevenoaks crews start at 6am from Monday 10 to Friday 14 August: put bins out the night before, because there is no return visit if yours is missed. · 4 min read Planning Sevenoaks planning applications: 43 lodged to 7 August 43 applications hit the Sevenoaks register in the week to 7 August, led by a Green Belt traveller site at Horton Kirby. Comments on it close 27 August. · 7 min read Otford Otford by-election: green belt slate sweeps all three seats All three Otford Parish Council seats went to Save Otford's Green Belt candidates on 23 July, on a 31.6% turnout, as the village fights a 203-home allocation. · 5 min read Licensing Kings Arms Westerham: Greene King's 1am licence bid heard Greene King wants the Kings Arms open to 1.30am at weekends with a revived basement bar. Six neighbours objected, and a licensing panel heard it on 28 July. · 6 min read Business Ming Foods Swanley placed in administration on 24 June Ming Foods, the Chinese pastry maker at Upper Hockenden Farm, went into administration on 24 June, one of seven local firms in July's insolvency notices. · 7 min read Food Sevenoaks food hygiene: all 25 July inspections scored 5 Every food hygiene inspection published for the Sevenoaks district in July scored 5, the top rating. Across the register, 673 of 852 premises hold a 5. · 6 min read Licensing Fleur De Lis Leigh: premises licence bid filed on 27 July The Sevenoaks licensing register logs a premises licence application for the Fleur De Lis on Leigh High Street, received on 27 July, ref 26/03334/LAPRE. · 7 min read Schools Lady Boswell's Sevenoaks: strong in all seven Ofsted areas Ofsted graded the Sevenoaks primary at a strong standard in all seven areas, from achievement to governance, and found safeguarding met. Published 23 July. · 8 min read Planning Ashgrove Road Sevenoaks: farm access refusal now on appeal The council refused a new farm access onto Ashgrove Road in February for want of evidence the land is farmed. The appeal started on 27 May and is undecided. · 8 min read Data Out-of-work benefit claims in Sevenoaks district hit their highest level since January 2022 1,655 people in the Sevenoaks district were claiming unemployment-related benefits in June, 145 more than a year earlier. The district's rate of 2.3 per cent is still well below Kent and Great Britain. · 5 min read Fire and rescue Edenbridge wildfire: 10 fire engines to Hever Road Ten fire engines, a bulk water carrier and two off-road vehicles fought a wildfire in Hever Road, Edenbridge. Kent has had more than 300 grass fires since May. · 4 min read Transport When does Charing Cross reopen? It already has, on 17 August Charing Cross reopened on 17 August and Sevenoaks trains are back to normal. It shuts again on Sunday 23 August, when they run to Cannon Street instead. · 6 min read Riverhead Riverhead puts the A25 zebra crossing first and is holding back its reserves to pay for it Riverhead Parish Council's 2026 Highway Improvement Plan names the London Road zebra crossing as its top priority, and the council has turned down other spending to build the reserves behind a funding bid. · 9 min read Crime Crime in Sevenoaks: June 2026 figures Police recorded 62 crimes in the Sevenoaks area in June 2026. The full breakdown by crime type, the streets with the most reports, and how to check your own street, from the police.uk open data. · 3 min read Planning Homes plan for car park behind Otford High Street leads week's planning list A permission-in-principle bid for up to four homes on a car park behind Otford High Street is the only new housing proposal among 22 planning applications validated across the Sevenoaks district in the week to 31 July 2026. · 5 min read Council Sevenoaks bin crews back on 6am starts as heatwave returns for the last week of July Sevenoaks District Council is again running waste, recycling and food waste collections from 6am, until Friday 31 July 2026, as a fresh hot spell hits. UKHSA has an amber heat-health alert for the South East from 29 to 30 July. · 4 min read Planning A 20m phone mast for Westerham among 38 planning applications lodged this week A 20-metre telecoms monopole at Westerham Bowls Club leads the 38 planning applications validated across the Sevenoaks district in the week to 24 July, alongside new homes at Crockenhill and a warehouse demolition at Otford. · 5 min read Council Councillors approve the £40m Land East loan after a bid for more oversight is defeated Sevenoaks councillors have signed off a loan facility of up to £40m with Wates for the Land East of the High Street scheme. An amendment to bring the final agreement back to Council was voted down. · 8 min read Council Sevenoaks disabled facilities grants: 55-day target agreed Sevenoaks councillors agreed to hold disabled facilities grants to the 55 and 130-day national targets, but the proposed MND fast track was amended out. · 8 min read Council Sevenoaks EV charging: 11 of 26 wards have none Eleven of the district's 26 wards have no public EV charger, councillors were told on 14 July, as a seven-point Green climate motion was cut to two pledges. · 7 min read Planning Local Plan consultation opens on 23 July: how to have your say on 17,460 homes The final public consultation on Sevenoaks District Council's Local Plan opens on Thursday 23 July and runs eight weeks to 17 September. Here is the council's confirmed portal, email and postal address for comments, and how to make yours count. · 4 min read Council Sevenoaks District Council to be abolished and folded into a new West Kent council The Government has decided Sevenoaks District Council will be scrapped in 2028 and replaced by a West Kent unitary council covering Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling, Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone. What changes, and when. · 7 min read Planning Sevenoaks committee defies officers on Underriver stables Councillors went against officers on 9 July, saying an Underriver stable block would harm the National Landscape. Badgers Mount and Riverhead were granted. · 9 min read Council Councillors decide tonight on the £40m loan for the Land East regeneration Sevenoaks Full Council meets on 14 July to sign off a loan of up to £40m for the Land East of the High Street scheme, a new leisure centre, homes and public realm to be built with Wates. Here is exactly what councillors are being asked to approve. · 5 min read Council Sevenoaks households get wheelie bins from October as recycling service is overhauled Sevenoaks District Council will deliver around 100,000 wheelie bins from mid-July, start kerbside glass collections, and move to alternate weekly waste and recycling from 12 October 2026. The green recycling bags are being scrapped. · 4 min read Council Sevenoaks bin crews start at 6am until 17 July as heat alert bites Sevenoaks District Council is running waste, recycling and food waste collections from 6am until Friday 17 July 2026 during the heatwave, and wants bins out the night before. An amber heat-health alert covers the South East from 8 to 12 July. · 4 min read Planning Cabinet approves final Local Plan consultation: how to have your say from 23 July Sevenoaks District Council's Cabinet has approved its revised Local Plan for a final public consultation, giving residents until 17 September to comment on 17,460 planned homes. Here is how to respond. · 5 min read Housing Work starts on 60 homes at the old White Oak Leisure Centre site in Swanley Building has begun on 60 homes on part of the former White Oak Leisure Centre site in Swanley. The council-backed scheme, built by Skillcrown, helps pay back the cost of the £22m leisure centre that opened in 2022. · 4 min read Council Sevenoaks council to consult on new homelessness strategy as housing register reaches 1,142 Sevenoaks District Council will consult residents on a new five-year homelessness strategy from 13 July to 21 August. Its housing register now holds 1,142 households. Here is what the plan and the figures show. · 7 min read Transport Sevenoaks station starts replacing platform 1 and 2 lifts as platforms 3 and 4 reopen Sevenoaks station has reopened the lifts to platforms 3 and 4 and begun replacing the lifts serving platforms 1 and 2, the next phase of a renewal running to winter 2026. Here is what it means for step-free travel. · 3 min read Planning Green belt homes at Badgers Mount head to Sevenoaks planning committee on 9 July Two homes at Badgers Mount, a much-altered house at Riverhead and a stable block at Underriver all go before Sevenoaks councillors on 9 July. Officers recommend all three for approval, each called in by a ward councillor. · 6 min read Planning Edenbridge 135-home green belt scheme granted by Sevenoaks committee Sevenoaks councillors granted outline permission for up to 135 homes on green belt land south of Phillippines Close, Edenbridge, after lawyers warned that deferring the decision would be a material error of law. The draft minutes confirm the outcome. · 6 min read Council Spitals Cross Edenbridge: £10.3m rebuild, 23 new homes Edenbridge's Spitals Cross estate is in the final phase of a £10.3m rebuild: 23 affordable homes, a replacement community hall and shop, all due this autumn. · 3 min read Planning Sevenoaks Local Plan: 17,460 homes, 810 at Broke Hill The revised Sevenoaks Local Plan raises the housing target to 17,460 homes and adds Broke Hill golf course, Brittains Lane and 160 London Road as new sites. · 5 min read Council Sevenoaks bin collections start an hour earlier during the heatwave Sevenoaks District Council is starting waste and recycling collections an hour earlier from 22 to 26 June 2026 because of the hot weather, and is asking residents to put their sacks and food waste bins out by 6am on their collection day. · 3 min read Planning Sevenoaks planning committee, 18 June: 3 of 4 granted Councillors granted eight Traveller pitches at Farningham, up to nine homes at Ash and a Halstead extension on 18 June. Edenbridge's 135 homes await a decision. · 5 min read Community Sevenoaks names its 2026 community heroes at Making it Happen awards Twelve winners, from DAVSS to a lifetime achievement award for Jan Berry, were honoured at Sevenoaks District Council's Making it Happen Community and Voluntary Awards on 18 June 2026, after more than 100 nominations. · 3 min read Council Council backs more than £2m of works at Edenbridge Leisure Centre Sevenoaks District Council has agreed to spend more than £2 million on Edenbridge Leisure Centre, with a new sports hall roof, refitted changing village and replacement heating planned between now and 2027. · 3 min read Council Cabinet appoints Wates to deliver new Sevenoaks leisure centre and town-centre scheme Sevenoaks District Council's Cabinet has appointed Wates as preferred contractor for the £138m Land East of the High Street regeneration, with a new leisure centre, homes and a market hall. Full Council votes on the funding on 14 July. · 3 min read Planning Ash Church End: nine homes back before councillors Officers backed up to nine homes on green belt at Church End, Ash Road, three months after refusing a near-identical scheme over a high-pressure gas pipeline. · 6 min read Council Land East Sevenoaks: Wates picked, £40m loan on table Officers asked Cabinet to appoint Wates for the land east of Sevenoaks High Street and back a £40m loan for a new leisure centre, homes and public realm. · 5 min read Council The Stag Sevenoaks: officers back £650,000 transfer Officers recommended handing the Stag to Sevenoaks Town Council for £650,000, or a 30-year lease. A late commercial bid complicates the 16 June vote. · 4 min read Planning Farningham Traveller site: backed after 2023 refusal Officers backed eight Gypsy and Traveller pitches at Farningham Hill Stud, A20, two years after refusing an identical scheme, citing a 181-pitch shortfall. · 6 min read Planning Edenbridge 135 homes: officers back plan, 151 objections Planning officers recommended up to 135 homes on green belt south of Phillippines Close, Edenbridge, despite 151 objections. Councillors granted it on 18 June. · 6 min read Transport Bessels Green A25 crossing ruled out: 16 users a day Kent County Council has ruled out an A25 pedestrian crossing at Bessels Green: surveys found 16 people crossing in 24 hours on a road too narrow for an island. · 5 min read Planning Sevenoaks planning applications: 30 lodged in a week Thirty planning applications were validated across the Sevenoaks district in the week from 1 June 2026, led by outline housing at New Ash Green and Kemsing. · 5 min read Planning Councillors refuse 235-acre New Ash Green solar farm despite £400,000 appeal warning Sevenoaks councillors have refused a 72,000-panel solar farm on 235 acres between Ridley and New Ash Green, voting against their own planning officers' advice and a developer warning of a £400,000 cost award at appeal. · 4 min read Council The Stag's future: council offers town a £650,000 buyout or a 30-year lease Sevenoaks District Council has offered the town council two ways to secure the Stag Community Arts Centre long term: buy it outright for £650,000, or take a new 30-year lease at a peppercorn rent. A decision runs through three meetings this summer. · 4 min read Council Sevenoaks recycling hits record high as food waste rounds collect 220 tonnes in a month Sevenoaks District Council says its new weekly food waste collections gathered 220 tonnes in their first month and lifted the district's recycling rate by 6 per cent, putting it in the top quarter of Kent councils. · 3 min read Planning Sevenoaks planning decisions: two new-build schemes refused, Oakhill Road revamp approved Sevenoaks councillors refused two residential schemes and approved a house revamp at their 21 May meeting, turning down five flats off St James Road and two homes at Bessels Green. Here is what was decided and what it means for residents. · 4 min read Planning Sevenoaks planning news: 1,145 new homes a year target Sevenoaks faces a Government target of 1,145 new homes a year. What the emerging Local Plan proposes, when you can comment, and what it means for your area. · 6 min read Roadworks Sevenoaks roadworks: A25 shut to 24 Aug, Kemsing to 18 Oct The A25 at Bessels Green shuts westbound from 20:00 on Friday 21 August to 06:00 on Monday, and Cotmans Ash Lane at Kemsing closes right through to 18 October. · 10 min read Community Sevenoaks community news: new £2m pavilion due in August The £2m Greatness Recreation Ground pavilion, a new home for 1,200 grassroots players, is due to open this August. Plus the district's volunteer awards. · 5 min read Council Sevenoaks District Council news: bins and 2.98% tax rise Two free wheelie bins and kerbside glass from autumn 2026, weekly food waste, and a 2.98% council tax rise. What each Sevenoaks council decision means for you. · 6 min read Crime Sevenoaks crime: low overall, watch for vehicle crime Sevenoaks is a comparatively low-crime district, with vehicle crime the category worth guarding against. What the police.uk figures show, and how to report. · 5 min read Business Sevenoaks Business News: Bligh's Meadow Sold in Town Centre Deal The latest Sevenoaks business news: Bligh's Meadow Shopping Centre has changed hands in a town centre deal, with new owners and a new manager promising to reposition the High Street scheme. What the sale means for shoppers and traders. · 5 min read Crime Sevenoaks crime figures: shoplifting leads, 53 a month Shoplifting is the most-recorded crime in central Sevenoaks: 85 of 318 offences in six months, an average of 53 a month. The real police.uk figures, checked. · 10 min read Planning Sevenoaks Planning Portal: Direct Link, 21 Days to Object Search any Sevenoaks application by postcode or reference on Public Access, free and with no account. You get 21 days to comment; what actually counts is set out here. · 20 min read