Rebecca Hadnett has been left shocked and bitterly disappointed after councillors voted 6-3 to give planning permission for 35 new homes, including affordable housing, on land west of Meadow Lodge, Lavant.

"I am just so upset. We thought it was going our way and it looked like we were going to win, so we were devastated when the decision didn't go our way," she said.

Mrs Hadnett helped form Lavant Residents' Action Group to take on developer Oracle Residential Ltd in its drive to build the new houses and flats in the village.

She spent five months trawling through complicated planning guidelines to find evidence to support the campaign that mainly centred around road safety.

Mrs Hadnett, who lives close to the access road into the new development, says she has seen many vehicles narrowly miss each other and mount kerbs along the narrow A286 that has many sharp bends.

"It is not safe. How long is it going to be before a pedestrian is killed on the pavement?" she said.

"It is going to be so dangerous now – I don't think we can stay living here."

Lavant Parish Council also opposed the plans that had been slightly tweaked to slash the number of homes from 36 to 35, rearrange the layout next to the northern boundary and reduce the height and improve the appearance of a block of flats.

Its concerns focused on traffic, the proposed new access and bulk and density.

Other objectors claimed the scheme would be an overdevelopment of the site, out of keeping with the area and damage the local conservation area.

Despite the road safety concerns, West Sussex County Council, the local highway authority, did not object to the scheme.

Speaking at the meeting, West Sussex county councillor Mike Hall said highway issues were the core.

During one 12-hour period in June, 9,567 vehicles were recorded on the A286 at Lavant.

People would be coming in and out of the site at peak times, when speeds over 40mph had been recorded.

One of the greatest dangers not addressed was to pedestrians. Residents would have to cross the road twice to get to the school.

Cllr Andrew Smith said the district council's position on highways was it had to rely on experts. "We may have reservations, but we don't have any independent report that would realistically sustain an objection on these grounds," he added.

It would also be difficult to sustain an objection on design grounds, because the development fell within guidelines on density.

Cllr Rob Field said he was alarmed the county council said it was not sensible to have a pedestrian crossing in this area, because of insufficient visibility.

And Cllr Heather Card said while it was said to be not safe enough to put a crossing, a large number of people had to cross there.

Cllr Paul Mackey said: "This application is out of keeping with the area, and I have safety doubts with the highway. We should refuse it."





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