7,600 residents demand action. The Conservative District Council isn’t listening.
After a week of crucial meetings, Conservative-controlled Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) is still refusing to listen to the 7,600 residents who signed a petition to protect The Stag Community Arts Centre — and Sevenoaks Liberal Democrats are demanding that SDC leader Kevin Maskell comes to the table before it’s too late.
The future of The Stag Community Arts Centre remains in the balance after the District Council refused to act on the clear wishes of residents — who are demanding a free transfer to Sevenoaks Town Council (STC).
On Monday 15th June, STC held an Extraordinary Council Meeting to consider three options put forward by SDC: a freehold transfer at a cost of £650,000; a 30-year peppercorn lease; or remaining on the current lease until it passes to the new Unitary Authority.
Town councillors made clear they wanted none of these on SDC's terms — resolving instead to seek negotiation on the freehold, and to accept the peppercorn lease only as a fall-back, without abandoning their position that the freehold should be transferred at a fair price.
Crucially, the meeting heard from legal advice — obtained by the Town Council after SDC repeatedly claimed it would be acting illegally to transfer The Stag at a nominal value — which confirmed that SDC can legally make the free transfer. Despite this advice being shared with the District Council, SDC’s Cabinet meeting the following day remained unmoved.
Cllr Alan Leaman, of Sevenoaks Liberal Democrats, said:
"It’s clear that it’s now time for the leader of the council, Kevin Maskell, to show some real leadership and sit down for face-to-face talks with his Town Council opposite numbers. This is far too important an issue to be taken in isolation, by those in the District Council bubble, who don’t reflect the feeling of the public throughout the district."
The Lib Dems point to SDC’s pattern of evasion throughout this process. Despite the District’s own Finance Committee voting in favour of joint talks between town and district councillors — a vote which SDC leader Kevin Maskell himself backed — the Conservative Cabinet then refused to engage with the Town Council at all.
The Stag’s outgoing Chief Executive, Andrew Eyre, who has led the organisation for nearly 15 years, spoke out strongly this week. He warned that SDC’s actions had put The Stag’s long-term future in question, and called on the District Council to reach a reasonable financial settlement — one that doesn’t punish the town’s ratepayers.
"Forcing the ratepayers of Sevenoaks Town to pay £650,000 to free The Stag from the economic shackles of remote ownership is wrong."
— Andrew Eyre, Chief Executive, the Stag Community Arts Centre
Eyre also highlighted the absurdity of the financial burden falling on Sevenoaks Town alone, pointing out that only around a third of The Stag ticket buyers are from Sevenoaks Town — with nearly 45% coming from other parts of the district.
"This was an active choice made by the District Council to sell The Stag back to its audience with the excessive price being paid by the ratepayers of Sevenoaks Town."
— Andrew Eyre, Chief Executive, the Stag Community Arts Centre
The Town Council has confirmed it will continue to negotiate for the freehold. But with the £650,000 price tag presenting serious practical challenges — potentially requiring borrowing, a precept rise, or fundraising — Sevenoaks Liberal Democrats say the case for a fair, negotiated settlement has never been stronger.