This Role Statement, approved by members, sets out the key objectives of the WRA and its Committee. The sentences in bold are included in our Constitution.
1. Uphold the covenants which protect the low-density, sylvan character of the Wildernesse Estate.
Key covenants limit development to one house per plot and require that buildings are a minimum distance from nearby roads. The enforceability of the covenants is underpinned by a number of court decisions.
To fulfil this objective, the WRA Committee monitors planning applications on the Estate and raises potential breaches with owners and developers, with the aim of amicably agreeing solutions which avoid risk of breach. To help it carry out these tasks, the Committee will when necessary seek and pay for legal advice. If attempts to agree a solution fail, the WRA Committee will inform residents so that they may consider whether to take legal action to prevent a breach. It is the residents and not the Committee who have the legal standing to bring any action. If residents agree to take action, the Committee will assist them in doing so.
2. Support the Wildernesse Conservation Area and encourage developments in keeping with the Area.
Existing planning guidance, particularly the Sevenoaks District Council’s Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (CAAMP), sets out the principles which developments should follow. These principles require that the general rural, wooded character of the Area should be maintained. They are intended to allow positive management of change, not to prevent development. According to legal advice, upholding the Conservation Area goes hand-in-hand with upholding the covenants.
The WRA Committee will follow up issues which we believe will significantly harm the character of the Estate or the Conservation Area. It is not the role of the WRA or its Committee to become involved in discussions or disputes between neighbours about individual developments, unless we believe the development poses a real threat to the character of the Conservation Area. The Committee will seek to ensure that the principles of the Conservation Area and CAAMP documents are well publicised to residents.
3. Represent the interests of residents of the Wildernesse Estate in discussions with local and District Councils and other bodies on matters which may affect the character, environment and amenity of the Estate.
Among other things, the Committee will seek to represent residents’ views to the District Council on future development of the CAAMP document. It will also liaise with other Sevenoaks residents associations on matters of mutual interest. It will communicate relevant information on local developments to residents wherever practical.
4. Carry out other activities which residents agree are of benefit to the Wildernesse Estate and appropriate for the WRA.