Councillor rejects 'back garden' houses

Rother District Council member Cllr Charles Clark has come out in support of the group campaigning against a proposal for eight homes in place of two bungalows on Pebsham Lane.

Cllr Clark says the plan would be, "gross overdevelopment."

Protestors this week issued leaflets across Pebsham urging residents to voice their objections to Rother's planning department.

The scheme would see five houses and three bungalows replace the two existing properties and their large gardens.

A proposal for 11 homes and a bungalow on the site was rejected by planners earlier this year.

An appeal by developers, Cliveden Properties Plc, was thrown out by a government inspector.

Cllr Clark said: "I was dismayed to find out that Cliveden Properties Plc have returned with a new application for eight homes on the site in Pebsham Lane where the previous application for 11 homes was rejected by the Rother planning committee and rejected by the government inspector on appeal.

"To my mind the new application is not acceptable because it is still a gross overdevelopment of the site and out of character with the existing houses in Pebsham Lane. Granting such an application would make it impossible to refuse similar applications in future.

"With no fixed date for the proposed link road, Rother should be resisting high density housing applications which only put more pressure on the current road infrastructure.

"What is the point of local residents being consulted on planning applications if they are to be told we must meet government targets for new houses in the South East?

"Local residents are fighting for their quality of life and the environment they live in - that is why they moved to the area. My ward has had massive development recently; the Bexhill College site, 87 flats on the Nazareth House development, housing units on the old tennis court site and houses on Hastings Road.

"I am not a member of the planning committee, but I will be making representations to the committee opposing the application in Pebsham Lane."

The developers say the revised plans would make, "efficient and effective use of the existing housing land."