Sevenoaks & District · Local news you can trust
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.
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Council
Council backs faster home adaptations for residents with MND after motion put by a colleague's bedside
Sevenoaks councillors have committed to press Kent County Council on the speed of disabled facilities grants, after a motion proposed on behalf of Cllr Nicholas Varley, who has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
Council
Eleven Sevenoaks wards have no public EV charger, councillors told as climate motion is cut to two pledges
A seven-point Green motion on climate, transport, carbon and water was cut to two commitments before Sevenoaks councillors passed it. What survived, what did not, and the EV charging gap behind it.
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.
Community
Hundreds turn out for Bradbourne Lakes festival as time capsule is buried in the park
Hundreds of people came to Bradbourne Lakes Park in Sevenoaks on 11 July for the free Re-bourne summer festival, where the Mayor helped launch a community time capsule ahead of the £2.1m restoration of the historic lakes.
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.
Planning
Councillors reject officer advice on Underriver stables, grant homes at Badgers Mount and Riverhead
Sevenoaks councillors went against their own officers on 9 July, saying a stable block at Underriver should be refused for harming the National Landscape. Two homes at Badgers Mount and a house at Riverhead were granted.
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.
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.
Community
Free Family Fun Days return to Sevenoaks villages across the summer holidays
Sevenoaks District Council is running free Family Fun Days for under-12s at 20 villages and parks from 27 July to 21 August 2026, with arts, crafts, sport and free bike marking by Kent Police at several sites. No booking needed.
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.
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.
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.
Sevenoaks Online covers the town and the villages around it, from Otford and Kemsing to Westerham, Edenbridge and Swanley. We do two things. We report the local news that comes off public records, planning decisions, crime figures, council spending, house prices, so you can see what is actually changing in the district. And we keep the everyday information you look up again and again in one clear place: when your bin is collected, where to park, what your council tax band costs, and how long the train to London really takes.
Every story here is built from a real, named source: the council’s own registers, the police’s open crime data, the Land Registry, and other public records, and we link to that source so you can check it yourself. We are upfront about where a figure comes from and when we last updated it. If we get something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.