Sevenoaks District

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement Sevenoaks is a local government district<ref>District Council website</ref> in west Kent, England. Its council is based in the town of Sevenoaks.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Sevenoaks Urban District, Sevenoaks Rural District and part of Dartford Rural District.

Geography

The area is approximately evenly divided between buildings and infrastructure on the one hand and woodland or agricultural fields on the other. It contains the upper valley of the River Darenth and some headwaters of the River Eden.

The vast majority of the district is covered by the Metropolitan Green Belt.

In terms of districts, it borders Dartford to the north, Gravesham to the northeast, Tonbridge and Malling to the east, briefly Tunbridge Wells to the southeast. It also borders two which, equal to it, do not have borough status, the Wealden district of East Sussex to the south and the Tandridge district of Surrey to the southwest. It borders the London Boroughs of Bromley and Bexley to the northwest.

In the 2011 Census, the district had a population of 114,893.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Governance

Sevenoaks District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

In 2009 the Audit Commission named Sevenoaks District Council as one of the four best-run and most efficient councils in the country.<ref>Sevenoaks District Council : 9 December 2009 : Sevenoaks Tops National Performance League Table Retrieved 22 August 2010</ref>

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since May 2025, when a number of Conservative councillors left the party, which had previously held a majority of the council's seats.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:<ref name=electionscentre>Template:Cite web (Put "Sevenoaks" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>

Party in control		Years
Template:Party name with colour	1974–1995
Template:Party name with colour	1995–1999
Template:Party name with colour	1999–2025
Template:Party name with colour	2025–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1999 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Alison Cook<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	1999	10 May 2005
Peter Fleming<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	10 May 2005	May 2023
Julia Thornton<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	23 May 2023	May 2024
Roddy Hogarth<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	14 May 2024	18 Nov 2025

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was as follows:

Party		Councillors
Template:Party name with colour	24
Template:Party name with colour	14
Template:Party name with colour	4
Template:Party name with colour	12
Total		54

Nine of the independent councillors form the "West Kent Independents" group (all of whom were elected as Conservatives). Another two independent councillors sit together as the "Sevenoaks Independents" group, and the other is not aligned to a group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The next election is due in 2027.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elections

Template:Also Since the last full review of boundaries in 2003 the council has comprised 54 councillors, representing 26 wards. Elections are held every four years.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

Premises

The council is based at the Council Offices on Argyle Road. The offices were built for the council on the site of a large house which had served as the offices of one of the council's predecessors, the Sevenoaks Urban District Council. The new building was formally opened on 3 March 1986.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Housing and architecture

File:Front view of Hever Castle, Kent.jpg

Hever Castle is in Sevenoaks district

The layout of the district is dual-centred:

• A well-buffered suburban town itself, which spreads into suburban villages (St Johns, Riverhead, Dunton Green, Sevenoaks Weald).
• Swanley and smaller, equally buffered Hextable and Crockenhill within the M25 motorway.

In all areas low-rise dominates: the incidence of flats exceeding two storeys is rare.

Template:See also The number of listed buildings in the district exceeds 150. This includes 16 churches listed in the highest grading in the national listing system (Grade I). Castles and English country houses of the wealthiest in society from the 16th to 18th centuries form part of this district.

Examples at Grade I include Knole House, Chartwell, Penshurst Place and Chevening House, most of which have their own produce-selling farms. Older with original stone walls are Hever Castle with its Template:Convert-wooded island in a listed parkland. A folly exists at Lullingstone Castle which is a reconstruction of its gatehouse and separate modern house.<ref>Hever CastleTemplate:National Heritage List for England</ref>

Towns and parishes

The whole district is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Sevenoaks and Swanley are styled as town councils. Template:Col-begin Template:Col-break

• Ash-cum-Ridley
• Badgers Mount
• Brasted
• Chevening
• Chiddingstone
• Cowden
• Crockenhill
• Dunton Green
• Edenbridge
• Eynsford
• Farningham
• Fawkham
• Halstead
• Hartley
• Hextable
• Hever

• Horton Kirby and South Darenth
• Kemsing
• Knockholt
• Leigh
• Otford
• Penshurst
• Riverhead
• Seal
• Sevenoaks (Town)
• Sevenoaks Weald
• Shoreham
• Sundridge with Ide Hill
• Swanley (Town)
• Westerham
• West Kingsdown

See also

• List of places of worship in Sevenoaks District