Plans for 136 new homes on the former site of a town's gasholders have been criticised by councillors.

SGN Place, the development arm of gas supplier SGN, hopes to redevelop the land off Cramptons Road in Sevenoaks as part of a nationwide scheme for the regeneration of former gas network infrastructure.

In its planning statement submitted to Sevenoaks District Council in application for planning permission, SGN Place says the scheme would consist of a mix of apartments and a smaller number of townhouses.

It is proposed that 67 of the flats would occupy a 10-storey 'rotunda' building on the western side of the site closest to Otford Road.

The site has long been associated with the gasholders, and the gas works was installed not long after the arrival of the railway in the late 1800s.

Both two remaining gasholders, long a feature of the skyline in the town, were demolished in 2018.

Although the responsibility to decide on the application rests with the district authority, on Monday the planning committee of Sevenoaks Town Council voted unanimously to recommend refusal of the scheme.

The committee argued the proposals are not consistent with the Allocated Development Management Plan of 2015, or with the emerging Neighbourhood Development Plan or Local Plan for the site.

Objections were also raised about the nature of the 10-storey building, which it is argued would be out of character for the residential areas to the east of the site.

SGN Place currently has more than 50 redundant gasholder properties in its portfolio and plans to deliver up to 3,000 homes over the next decade.

The issue of housing supply has long been contentious in Sevenoaks, with the district only meeting 60% of its Whitehall-set target for housebuilding in the three years to 2020.

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