PLANS to turn one town in north Kent into a tourism hub have been put forward by a District Council.

Sevenoaks District Council’s local development framework core strategy, is a planning policy up until 2026.

It sets out a guideline of what development will happen, where it will happen and what requirements it has to meet.

In Swanley it will involve the building of 650 new homes and the regeneration of the town centre which will help develop it into a tourism hub.

This will include the provision for the development of a hotel and more shops in the town centre.

It also involves expanding public spaces in the town and improving access to the railway station from the town centre, with the building of foot paths and cycle paths.

Alan Dyer planning policy manager at Sevenoaks District Council said: “It is difficult to say the scale of the development at the moment, as this is dependent on planning applications.

“It’s also hard to say exact time scales but our target is to build 30 houses per year.”

A public consultation began on January 22 with residents having until March 5 to make any comments.

The plans were shown to the public at an exhibition at the Civic Centre in St Mary’s Road, Swanley on Thursday. (JANUARY 29) Lynn Murphy of The Croft in Swanley who attended the exhibition says that the plans are not detailed enough.

The 58-year-old said: “I’d like the plans to be more specific, but Swanley is definitely in need of regeneration.

“The only place I can go to buy clothes at the moment is the Asda superstore.”

Her 15-year-old son Ian Murphy thinks that the town needs more places for young people to go, such as a bowling alley or cinema.

Mavis Treen of Victoria Hill Road, Hextable is concerned about the space available for development.

The 60-year-old said: “I’m not sure if there is enough room for expansion around Swanley as a lot of the land is protected green belt land.”

Once the consultation has finished, the plan will be revised and sent to a Government planning inspector for examination.

It will be used to determine all planning applications from autumn 2010.

The plan is available to view at the council’s website.