Sedlescombe council outraged over '˜deplorable' housing approval

Councillors in Sedlescombe are outraged after housing plans were approved on a field earmarked as green space in their plan for the village.
Bexhill Town Hall SUS-160623-112311001Bexhill Town Hall SUS-160623-112311001
Bexhill Town Hall SUS-160623-112311001

Sedlescombe Parish Council described Rother District Council’s planning committee’s decision to support building 16 homes on Street Farm, off Brede Lane, as ‘deplorable’.

More than 200 people wrote letters objecting to the plans and Rother’s planning officers recommended refusal because of the almost-finished Sedlescombe Neighbourhood Plan, which protected the field against development.

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“The planning committee’s decision to approve the application was a deplorable outcome,” a parish council spokesman said.

“Not only does it ride roughshod over the democratic process of neighbourhood planning, but it is unusual for planning committee members to go against the expert advice of their planning officer’s recommendations particularly when residents have expressed such strong objection.

“The clearly expressed views of Sedlescombe residents opposing development on Street Farm have been completely ignored.”

Seven out of 10 planning committee members supported approval for MJH Homes’ development on October 13, as it satisfied housing needs.

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The proposal puts 16 homes on the eastern side of the field, with a large space in the middle kept as open space and a small bit given to the primary school.

The neighbourhood plan was supported by 88 per cent of Sedlescombe and keeping Street Farm as a green space was the most popular policy at the last consultation.

“Our community has consistently expressed a strong level of support to protect Street Farm from any development through seven different consultations yet the district council is still opposing our community’s wishes,” the spokesman added.

The parish council has applied to the Secretary of State for the application to be ‘called in’ to try and get it quashed, which happened to a previous proposal on the same field.

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Parish councillors believe if the development is permitted, it would undermine its and the other nine neighbourhood plans in Rother by setting a precedent where they can be ignored.

“The decision by Rother would, if allowed to go forward, clearly undermine the Sedlescombe Neighbourhood Plan which has reached an advanced stage as recognised by Rother’s planning officers,” the spokesman said.

“It will also undermine all the other nine neighbourhood plans already in the system in Rother by setting a precedent.

“Importantly, Cllr Sue Prochak pointed out that this planning application would become a ‘watershed’ case for neighbourhood planning in Rother.”

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The district council currently has a housing shortage as it is not meeting a five-year-supply meaning proposals are given extra weight to redress the balance in favour of local plans, development boundaries and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

But in this instance, planning officers decided to give greater weight to the neighbourhood plan because of the amount of opposition to building on Street Farm.

Another concern for councillors is Sedlescombe could miss out on an estimated £20,000 of funding if the proposal is permitted.

The community infrastructure levy would not go to the village as it was approved before the neighbourhood plan became part of Rother’s local plan.

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