> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.kentcurrent.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How not to build 660 homes - URL: https://www.kentcurrent.news/how-not-to-build-660-homes/ - Published: 2026-10-05T17:03:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-05T17:03:46.000Z - Description: Plus the far right return to Dover, Operation Brock’s £1.4m bill, ghost plates at Dartford, and another Kent water failure - Author: Ed Jennings - Tags: News **Sevenoaks says a former golf course beside Knockholt station should eventually accommodate 714 homes. But when a developer proposed 660, half of them affordable, councillors rejected it. We look at how Britain’s housing crisis works when someone actually tries to build houses, plus the far right returning to Dover, the extraordinary cost of Operation Brock, ghost plates at Dartford, and another Kent water failure.* ### Catch Up National Highways says the £11bn Lower Thames Crossing will be Britain’s greenest road, which is quite a claim for a project designed to almost double road capacity across the Thames. We [looked at the low-emission machinery, binding carbon limits and offsets behind that promise](https://www.kentcurrent.news/can-the-lower-thames-crossing-really-be-britains-greenest-road/), as well as the rather larger carbon problem created once people start driving on it. Southern Water is also asking to be judged on its environmental progress rather than its historic failures. That is not entirely unreasonable, given that many of the pollution offences currently reaching court happened years ago. Unfortunately, [the more recent evidence is not especially reassuring either](https://www.kentcurrent.news/southern-water-keeps-being-fined-for-polluting-kent-has-anything-actually-changed/). After two large institutions explaining why things are getting better, we ended the week with somebody who has simply been getting on with it. Montgomery ‘Monty’ Tunnicliff is 17, one of the highest-ranking cadets in his school’s Combined Cadet Force and the recent winner of the Captain General’s Trophy. [Steven spoke to him about leadership, rivalry with the Army Cadets and whether his four years in the CCF will eventually lead to a military career](https://www.kentcurrent.news/take-every-opportunity-you-can-and-make-the-most-of-it/). [“Take every opportunity you can and make the most of it”What we asked Montgomery Tunnicliff, Regimental Sergeant Major with the Combined Cadet Force![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/81/4a81a2ea-fb28-4a6c-89c9-b54d120a45ef/content/images/icon/KC-NEW-LOGO-SQUARE-91f75aef-84ab-42cf-9fec-61a14bba5052.png)Kent CurrentSteven Keevil![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/81/4a81a2ea-fb28-4a6c-89c9-b54d120a45ef/content/images/thumbnail/Attachment-1-74174037-e57a-4287-8ecb-6e742c9b5db7.jpg)](https://www.kentcurrent.news/take-every-opportunity-you-can-and-make-the-most-of-it/) ### How not to build 660 homes There is a former golf course on the edge of Greater London that has been closed for nine years. It sits opposite a railway station, with the A21 nearby and sits between the delightfully named settlements of Pratts Bottom and Badgers Mount. A developer wants to build 660 homes there, half of them affordable, alongside retirement housing, a care home, space for a primary school, local facilities and a country park. Sevenoaks District Council’s planning officers recommended approving it. So naturally, councillors rejected it. The decision last month to refuse development at the former Broke Hill Golf Club would already be a fairly good example of why building homes in Britain is so difficult. What elevates it towards performance art is that Sevenoaks District Council’s own emerging Local Plan identifies the same site for 714 homes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/81/4a81a2ea-fb28-4a6c-89c9-b54d120a45ef/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-05-at-17.49.37-2.png) Former Broke Hill Golf Club, with Knockholt station directly to the north. Legal distinctions exist between allocating land through a Local Plan and deciding an individual planning application, but the practical position is quite something. Sevenoaks believes Broke Hill is somewhere hundreds of homes should eventually be built. It just does not want these hundreds of homes built there. The site itself is unusually difficult to dismiss as an obviously stupid place for development. Broke Hill is Green Belt, which shouldn't be overlooked. It is not brownfield land and should not be described as such. But nor is it untouched countryside that has somehow evaded human activity until a developer appeared with some bulldozers. It was a golf course until 2017. The former fairways remain visible, alongside mature trees and hedgerows, and parts of the site have genuine environmental value. But it also sits beside Sevenoaks Road, immediately opposite Knockholt railway station, with suburban Greater London reaching towards it from the west. Even the planning inspector who [rejected an earlier development at Broke Hill in 2022](https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ViewDocument.aspx?fileid=46018557&ref=kentcurrent.news) identified proximity to the station as the site’s 'main advantage', saying he expected significantly more residents there to commute by rail than elsewhere in Sevenoaks. Quinn Estates' latest proposal calls for [up to 660 homes, 330 of them affordable](https://sevenoaks.moderngov.co.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=28957&J=1&ref=kentcurrent.news), alongside a retirement village, care home, primary school, local centre, café and country park. The affordable housing would be secured through the planning agreement, rather than merely appearing as an aspiration in a glossy brochure. This is not the first attempt to build here. An earlier scheme for 800 homes was refused by Sevenoaks and dismissed on appeal in 2022, but that proposal also included a large sports hub with floodlit pitches, clubhouses and extensive parking, which particularly concerned the inspector because it pushed large-scale development towards Pratts Bottom. That sports hub has gone. The housing number has fallen from 800 to 660\. Sevenoaks officers also told councillors that statutory consultees were no longer raising the same landscape and traffic concerns they had about the previous scheme. More fundamentally, the planning rules have changed. The government published a [new National Planning Policy Framework](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework?ref=kentcurrent.news) in August with an explicit ambition to build more homes around railway stations, including on appropriate Green Belt land. It even issued a press release announcing ['full steam ahead' for station-led housebuilding](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/full-steam-ahead-to-fast-track-more-homes-near-stations?ref=kentcurrent.news). The new rules [support residential development in the Green Belt](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework-chapter-13-protecting-green-belt-land-gb1-8?ref=kentcurrent.news) where it is within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station, is physically well related to it and can be supported by existing or proposed infrastructure. Knockholt station is, inconveniently for anyone trying to argue this is the middle of nowhere, immediately beside the development site. That does not make the transport argument disappear. The station has an accessibility problem, with step-free access only to the London-bound platform, and councillors raised concerns about the gradient between parts of the site and the station. Residents also understandably worry about additional traffic on roads that are hardly overflowing with spare capacity already. But the proposal included transport mitigation and funding for infrastructure improvements, while the highway objections that helped sink the previous scheme were not raised this time. Officers concluded that the development met the relevant tests and [recommended approval](https://sevenoaks.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?J=1&MId=3745&ref=kentcurrent.news). Councillors disagreed, including over whether Knockholt should be treated as a sufficiently well-connected station for the new national policy. That is an intriguing judgment given that the government has gone to the unusual trouble of actually defining what it means by a well-connected station, rather than leaving everyone to argue over vibes. There is, however, a serious argument against building at Broke Hill, and it is stronger than pretending a disused golf course is some pristine piece of rural Kent. The Green Belt here performs a strategic purpose. Greater London effectively ends just to the north and the west of the site, and development at Broke Hill would move the built-up edge farther towards Halstead and Badgers Mount. The inspector who rejected the previous proposal gave significant weight to that risk. Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott has consistently made the same argument. Celebrating the latest refusal, she described Broke Hill as “high-performing Green Belt land” that helps protect the district from “the further urban sprawl of Greater London.” She called the committee’s decision “the right decision” and said it would be a “travesty” if the Secretary of State intervened to overturn it. “Local planning decisions should be made by local people who understand and represent their communities,” she said. That is a coherent position. People living nearby will have to deal with the consequences of development in a way that somebody sitting in Whitehall will not. More homes mean more traffic and greater pressure on doctors, schools, water supplies and other infrastructure. Building here really would change the landscape permanently. The problem is that the same thing is true almost everywhere. Britain desperately needs more homes. The difficulty begins when someone identifies where any of them might actually go. Every individual development has neighbours who can point to genuine downsides, and every plausible site risks becoming an exceptional case as soon as somebody proposes building on it. Broke Hill is a particularly awkward example because this is not hundreds of houses appearing miles from the nearest useful transport link. It is a closed golf course beside a railway station, close to major roads and existing development, with 330 affordable homes, infrastructure contributions and space for a school. If that cannot overcome the objections, it becomes reasonable to ask what possibly can. Sevenoaks itself has already reached a version of that conclusion. Its [emerging Local Plan](https://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/info/20069128/emerging%5Flocal%5Fplan/862/previous%5Flocal%5Fplan%5Fconsultations?ref=kentcurrent.news) identifies Broke Hill for 714 homes as part of the district’s future housing supply. The council [brought the site into the plan](https://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/news/article/592/council%5Fconsiders%5Fupdated%5Flocal%5Fplan%5Fto%5Fmeet%5Fgovernment%5Fhousing%5Ftarget?ref=kentcurrent.news) following government changes encouraging development close to transport links. So the council’s strategic planning position is essentially that Broke Hill needs around 714 homes. Quinn Estates has offered 660\. Councillors have said no. Sevenoaks Liberal Democrats have called the situation “planning chaos” and asked whether the Conservative-run council actually supports development at Broke Hill or not. They went further, alleging that Conservative councillors expect the scheme eventually to be approved elsewhere in the planning process, allowing them to oppose it locally without ultimately stopping it. Sevenoaks cannot yet formally kill the application. Because of its scale and location in the Green Belt, the proposal has to be referred to the Secretary of State, who can choose to call it in. If ministers do not intervene and Sevenoaks formally refuses permission, Quinn can appeal. Trott regards that possibility as unwarranted government interference. Ministers see the inability to build enough homes as precisely why national planning policy has had to change. Somewhere between those positions sits a golf course that has been closed for nearly a decade, opposite a railway station, where Sevenoaks believes roughly 714 homes should eventually be built but has just rejected an application for 660. Broke Hill is not a perfect development site. No site capable of accommodating hundreds of homes ever will be. But if we cannot build them here, where exactly are they supposed to go? ### In brief 🪧 Far-right thugs returned to Dover over the weekend, with around [100 people marching under the revived banner](https://searchlightmagazine.com/2026/10/back-from-the-dead-edls-dover-revival-ends-in-a-whimper/?ref=kentcurrent.news) of the English Defence League. 🚓 Kent Police responded to criticism for their previous (lack of) response by planning 'robust' measures, including [banning face coverings](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3rrylpqr4e1o?ref=kentcurrent.news). Like last time, no arrests were made during the event. 🚧 Operation Brock on the M20 [cost £1.4 m to run for a grand total of 36 hours](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ck87v91xdvzdo?ref=kentcurrent.news) over the summer. 🚘 Cameras at the Dartford Crossing are detecting [more than 1,000 vehicles each day](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq9860162dj2o?ref=kentcurrent.news) using 'ghost plates' that can't be traced. 🌊 A £42m [flood defence scheme](https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/42m-upgraded-flood-defences-completed-in-kent-02-10-2026/?ref=kentcurrent.news) designed to reduce the risk of flooding in Tonbridge and Hildenborough has officially opened. 🚰 Herne Bay won this week's [water supply disruption](https://www.kentonline.co.uk/herne-bay/news/anger-over-water-outages-as-queues-form-at-bottle-stations-345867/?ref=kentcurrent.news) lottery. 🔥 Neighbours evacuated after the fire at the Grand Burstin hotel in Folkestone have been [allowed to return home](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw7838nzjgrvo?ref=kentcurrent.news), 11 days after the fire. 🚌 Too many people are [vaping on the bus](https://www.kentonline.co.uk/herne-bay/news/kent-hotspots-revealed-as-stagecoach-cracks-down-on-vaping-o-345894/?ref=kentcurrent.news) in Herne Bay and Dover. 🚛 Thanet's six-month-long [bin crisis is apparently over](https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2026/10/02/end-of-bin-collection-chaos-as-thanet-council-says-services-now-back-on-schedule/?ref=kentcurrent.news). 🏚️ Regulators have found '[serious failings](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj62e275wzydo?ref=kentcurrent.news)' in Thanet District Council's services for social housing tenants. 🎭 Jeremy Kite, leader of Dartford Borough Council, has [urged other councils to support theatres](https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/local-authorities-must-support-theatres-dartford-council-leader?ref=kentcurrent.news) ahead of the Orchard Theatre's reopening. 🧑‍💻 Residents in Hunton, near Maidstone, worry their village is becoming a '[third world dead zone](https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/don-t-let-our-village-become-a-third-world-broadband-dead-z-345838/?ref=kentcurrent.news)' after planned fibre internet upgrades were put on hold. The potential third world village, where house prices average £700,000, is having to make do with speeds averaging 80Mbps. ## ****Enjoying this? There’s more where it came from.** Join readers across Kent receiving our independent reporting on the stories shaping the county, straight to their inbox. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Council matters **Meetings this week** - **Canterbury:** [Cabinet](https://democracy.canterbury.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=755&MId=14163&ref=kentcurrent.news) meets tonight (Monday) to discuss community safety, town centre strategies, and most importantly, relocating the toilets on Herne Bay seafront. - **Tonbridge & Malling:** [Cabinet](https://democracy.tmbc.gov.uk//ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=146&MId=6346&ref=kentcurrent.news) will meet on Tuesday to discuss business rates, HMOs, and more. - **Kent:** [Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee](https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=112&MId=10027&ref=kentcurrent.news) will examine bed reductions at Maidstone Hospital, future commissioning intentions, and more on Wednesday. - **Folkestone & Hythe:** [Council](https://folkestone-hythe.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=122&MId=5877&ref=kentcurrent.news) meets on Wednesday to debate the cost of local government reorganisation, becoming a city of sanctuary, planning changes, and more. - **Ashford:** [Cabinet](https://ashford.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=136&MId=5094&ref=kentcurrent.news) will discuss the Odeon regeneration project, community safety, the local plan, and more on Thursday. - **Swale:** [Planning Committee](https://democracy.swale.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=130&MId=4476&ref=kentcurrent.news) will decide on two housing developments south of Faversham on Thursday. **New planning applications** - **Ashford:** Change of use of former bingo hall to [theatre, bar, cafe, and events space](https://ashfordboroughcouncil.my.site.com/pr/s/planning-application/a0hTw000005MKbVIAW/pa20261719?c%5F%5Fr=Arcus%5FBE%5FPublic%5FRegister&ref=kentcurrent.news). - **Ashford:** Screening opinion for [solar and battery farm](https://ashfordboroughcouncil.my.site.com/pr/s/planning-application/a0hTw000005PrxVIAS/oth20261767?c%5F%5Fr=Arcus%5FBE%5FPublic%5FRegister&ref=kentcurrent.news) south of Brabourne Lees. - **Canterbury:** [Seasonal skating rink](https://pa.canterbury.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=TLPRJ6EA07P00&ref=kentcurrent.news) at Riverside complex. - **Maidstone:** [44 new homes](https://pa.midkent.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=TKH2D6TYJ7U00&ref=kentcurrent.news) in Chart, near Sutton Valence. ### Property of the week This four-bedroom Art Deco house on Marine Parade is in Tankerton, for anyone with £1.25 million and a strong desire to see the sea without actually leaving the sofa. The house has been substantially extended and refurbished, with a big open-plan kitchen and living space, a separate lounge with a log burner and sea views, plus two additional rooms downstairs for whatever people living in houses like this need additional rooms for. Upstairs, the main bedroom looks straight out over the water, while the back of the house opens onto a 96ft south-facing garden with fruit trees and vegetable beds. Perhaps most remarkably for somewhere directly on the Tankerton seafront, it also has its own driveway, saving you from the particularly Whitstable pastime of endlessly looking for somewhere to park. [Check out this 4 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove4 bedroom detached house for sale in Marine Parade, Tankerton, Whitstable, CT5 for £1,250,000\. Marketed by Kent Estate Agencies, Tankerton![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/81/4a81a2ea-fb28-4a6c-89c9-b54d120a45ef/content/images/icon/favicon-356a823b-8261-42fc-a3eb-9eec0e32a0dd.ico)Rightmove.co.uk![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/81/4a81a2ea-fb28-4a6c-89c9-b54d120a45ef/content/images/thumbnail/ce113d78628a11a10bf083b7bfeb7ae2-b1759a49-4696-4599-94df-d2f251d80f30.jpg)](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/93876492?ref=kentcurrent.news#/) ### Events 🎨 Until 24 Jan - [**Sophie Calle: Something Missing?**](https://turnercontemporary.org/whats-on/exhibitions/sophie-calle-something-missing?ref=kentcurrent.news) // Major works spanning photography, film and installation in the French artist’s first UK institutional exhibition for more than 15 years. Turner Contemporary, Margate. Free. 📜 Thu 8 Oct - [**Brian Bilston: How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside**](https://theastor.co.uk/events/edge-street-live-presents-brian-bilston-how-to-lay-an-egg-with-a-horse-inside?ref=kentcurrent.news) // The bestselling poet performs work from his latest collection alongside poems from across his career. Astor Theatre, Deal. Tickets £21. 🎹 Thu 8 Oct - [**Nerina Pallot**](https://www.ramsgatemusichall.com/tc-events/nerina-pallot-2/?ref=kentcurrent.news) // BRIT and Ivor Novello-nominated singer-songwriter marks 25 years since her debut with a career-spanning show. St George’s Church, Ramsgate. Tickets £22.50. 🎤 8 - 9 Oct - [**Harriet Kemsley: Floozy**](https://marlowetheatre.com/shows/harriet-kemsley-floozy/?ref=kentcurrent.news) // Kent comedian plays Kent show. Marlowe Studio, Canterbury. Tickets £21. 🎤 Fri 9 Oct - [**Romesh Ranganathan Will Change Your Lif**](https://revelationashford.co.uk/events/romesh-ranganathan-work-in-progress/?ref=kentcurrent.news)e // Life advice from popular comedian. Revelation, Ashford. Tickets £25\. *Also at* [*Assembly Hall*](https://www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk/whats-on/romesh-ranganathan-will-change-your-life.html?ref=kentcurrent.news)*, Tunbridge Wells on 11 Nov.* 🎤 Sun 11 Oct - [**Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In**](https://thegulbenkian.co.uk/events/lemn-sissay-let-the-light-pour-in-live/?ref=kentcurrent.news) // Evening with the master of the spoken word, author, activist, and performer. Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury. Tickets £31.25. ### Footnotes Have a Kent story you think we might be interested in? 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