WASPS: Crockenhill Parish Council Press Release

Today Crockenhill Parish Council issued a press release, the text of which is reproduced below:

PRESS RELEASE
19.11.24

Since the announcement by the WASPs Rugby Club on 11th November regarding ‘securing’ land within the South East, many residents have contacted Crockenhill Parish Council with their various questions and concerns.

Unfortunately, we have been unable to answer many of these questions with any certainty. We can only assume the location of the land in question is within the Parish of Crockenhill as this was one of the two potential sites that was put forward by WASPS as part of Sevenoaks District Council’s new Local Plan consultation. We have spoken with several Crockenhill landowners north of the parish for clarification and have been assured that they have no plans to sell their Grade 2/3 agricultural land or smallholdings. However, we do know that Swanley Town Council own a section of land within the parish - an area around Petham Farm. We also know that they held an extraordinary meeting on 30th October in which the only item on the agenda for this meeting (which the public were excluded from) was ‘Petham Farm agreement’.

In terms of publicly available information, we can only find two documents on Swanley Town Council’s website relating to this potential development. One was their response to Sevenoaks District Council’s Local Plan consultation earlier this year in which they OBJECTED to the WASPS stadium, and the other was the agenda item on 30th October. It would appear that Swanley Town Council has, at some point during this year, privately changed its position - despite overwhelming public objection locally.

It is not surprising that residents expect Crockenhill Parish Council to have been consulted regarding a significant agreement on land within their parish. It came as a surprise to us when Crockenhill Parish land was originally earmarked as a potential site within the consultation. Crockenhill Parish Council feel that they, and the public, have been deliberately kept in the dark throughout the whole process. We can only assume that plans, meetings, and agreements have been conducted entirely behind closed doors, without transparency, and against our wishes. We are appalled that Swanley Town Council, a neighbouring council, believe it appropriate to conduct themselves in this way. We have requested information from Swanley Town Council regarding this and are awaiting their official response.

Speaking about the WASP’s announcement, Sevenoaks District Council Member and Chair of Crockenhill Parish Council, Cllr. Rachel Waterton said: “We have been blindsided. Whilst other local councils, groups, and residents are working together to protect the greenbelt from inappropriate development, we believe Swanley Town Council is working against us. With so many other large sporting facilities close by, a sports stadium on agricultural land within a rural location, near an already overstretched road network (often gridlocked) is not the development that the local area either wants or needs. This development is going to hinder considerably more residents north of the district than it will benefit.”