Town Council seeks to protect The Shambles and Bradbourne Lakes by requesting ownership of local assets
Published: 18 September 2025
Central Government has asked District and Borough Councils to make plans to merge into several new, larger Unitary Councils. In a bid to protect local assets during this government reorganisation process, Sevenoaks District Council are considering transferring some assets to town and parish councils or voluntary organisations. Otherwise, all District Council assets would transfer to the new proposed Unitary Authority, which will likely be based in Maidstone.
Sevenoaks Town Council has been seeking local views about which District Council-owned assets residents believe would benefit from being transferred to more local ownership.
The Town Council has provided Expressions of Interest to the District Council for the transfer of several assets. At the recent Town Council Meeting, Councillors decided to submit Expressions of Interest for both Bradbourne Lakes and The Shambles.
The Shambles is a paved area in the town centre which contains historic wall art. It is currently used by a café as a seating area. Sevenoaks Town Council provides planters and hanging baskets for this area. The Town Council considers The Shambles to be an important cultural link for pedestrians within the town centre and wants to ensure that it continues to be maintained in this manner.
Bradbourne Lakes are recognised within the Sevenoaks Town Neighbourhood Plan as an “attractive, yet underused space that was identified by the public as a space that contributes to the character of Sevenoaks and which should be preserved.” Its preservation and improvement are supported by Aim L7 of the Sevenoaks Town Neighbourhood Plan, which states that, “the Town Council will support improvement and restoration proposals for Bradbourne Lakes developed in consultation with the local community,” as well as Objective Four, which seeks “to protect and enhance blue and green infrastructure, enhance biodiversity and respond to climate change”.
Sevenoaks Town Council is fully supportive of Sevenoaks District Council’s successful progress with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to develop a restoration project for the lakes and park and really hopes that the decision in March 2026 for the funding is positive.
It is however very unfortunate that the timing of progressing the HLF coincides with Local Government Review proposals. The timing of this could be crucial to the delivery, bearing in mind Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guidance issued in July 2025 about potential financial commitments for the new Unitary Authority. The new shadow and ultimately Unitary Authority may not want to take on such commitments.
Sevenoaks Town Council is therefore submitting this Expression of Interest as an additional ‘safety net’ in case there is a need for a different ‘successor council’ at the time of the HLF decision in relation to Local Government Review.
In the first round of asset transfer applications, the Town Council already submitted six Expressions of Interest. These were for:
• Stag Community Arts Centre
• Hollybush Recreation Ground
• Land at Bradbourne Vale Road (Horses Field)
• Land at High Street/Market Rights
• St John's Hill Car Park
• St James Road Car Park.
Sevenoaks Town Council will continue to review which assets should be transferred to the local council. Some of the assets will be income generating and some have outgoing costs. The aim is that the overall package will be cost neutral both to the new Unitary Council and the local taxpayer.
We are still consulting residents via a survey about which local assets the Town Council should request from the District Council. The community is encouraged to complete this survey, which can be found in the Consultations section of the website.
Images of Bradbourne Lakes (photo by Ann White) and the mural at the Shambles