A design for living in 21st century Sevenoaks

Published: 17 September 2025

Imagine a Saturday morning in Sevenoaks town centre. You stroll along pedestrian walkways lined with trees, with enticing seating and public art, linking different zones of the high street areas.

You can walk from the cultural quarter to eateries and shops without having to dodge traffic on the narrow pavements, following the tasteful signage in keeping with the historic town.

Later you collect a friend from the station who alights into a square of cafes and small shops, emerging into an area of generous footways planted with trees which really says ‘Welcome to Sevenoaks!’

These are some of the ideas in the draft Sevenoaks Town Centre Masterplan – a vision of life in 21st century Sevenoaks. Now the town council want residents to give their views and have extended the deadline for responses to September 30.

The aim of the Masterplan is to provide an opportunity to share ideas and thoughts about the future of the centre and how to address some of the challenges like traffic management.

The plan ranges from smaller ‘quick wins’ such as improving wayfinding signage, greening the Town Centre with trees and planting, and identifying new potential open spaces. For larger scale improvements it also explores possible options for changing traffic management in the town centre. It also looks at height and design advice for potential future development sites.

It includes ideas for:

Mini parks and seating areas
Pedestrianised zones
Linking cultural assets (for example The Stag, Knole, the Kaleidoscope Gallery) and creating a Cultural Quarter
Diversifying the cultural experience with public art and lighting
Providing spaces for outdoor performance and events

Among the ten guiding principles in the plan are:

Transforming the Sense of Arrival – making the points of arrival into the town, especially at Sevenoaks Station and on the main approaches into the town centre, more attractive and uplifting.
Celebrating Sevenoaks’ unique heritage – recognising Sevenoaks’ role as a historic market town, making the most of the historic setting and raising awareness of the town’s history through events, ensuring that new development responds to local character and protects important views.
Creating a people-focused public realm – making the public spaces work for the people by reducing the impact of cars, providing wider footways and pedestrian crossings and pedestrianised areas, creating more places to sit, relax and meet friends and creating settings that are flexible to host events and activities.
Being environmentally responsible - introducing more green infrastructure, (trees, planted areas, green roofs) and considering long term maintenance, retaining existing trees and creating naturally shaded areas, encouraging active travel modes, including cycling, e-bikes and scooters, introducing drainage and rain gardens where appropriate, and embracing energy efficient buildings and homes.

For traffic management, the Masterplan examines four alternative traffic management options, each improving the safety and experience of pedestrians while keeping the traffic flowing.

The Masterplan can be used by prospective developers, as well as the Planning Authority, to guide future development proposals and ensure they deliver the best improvements to the experience and offering of the Town Centre – for visitors, businesses and residents.

The Masterplans are not plans which the Town Council is proposing to put in place but are an exploration of how the area could potentially be improved, and the maximum benefits for the townspeople gained from the space.

You can find out more information, read the draft Masterplan and give your feedback via our survey on the Consultations page of our website.