Dozens of objections to plan for 130 homes in Lewes and Mid Sussex districts but Natural England says development will not have ‘significant adverse impacts’

Catesby Strategic Land Limited and Rurban Estates Limited submitted a joint application to build the dwellings on land east of Lunce’s Hill, Haywards Heath.

The outline application for the 8.81 hectare site is also for outdoor space, landscaping, drainage infrastructure and parking, and for changing the use of an existing barn to flexible community and/or commercial use. People can see it at planningpa.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/online-applications (reference LW/25/0071).

Nearby residents have expressed concerns about increased pressure on doctors’ surgeries and schools, stresses on the environment, the potential for flooding, drainage issues, noise, light pollution and possible overdevelopment.

A Rodmell resident said: “Such a development is clearly unsustainable. If permitted it would adversely impact and exacerbate the excessive number of traffic movements in adjacent villages contained within or close to SDNP (South Downs National Park).”

A Wivelsfield Green resident said: “Along with all the rest of house building within the area it is creating incredible stresses on the environment. Regular flooding incidents already occur and traffic increase is as we all know disruptive. There are not any additional spaces in the local schools and doctors surgeries are like dentist places, as easy to obtain as hens teeth!”

One Haywards Heath resident said: “We will go from living in the countryside to living in a massive housing development.”

Ditchling Parish Council objected too, saying the proposed development ‘is considered unsustainable in light of the lack of accessible and regular public transport’.

The council said: “The likelihood of increased traffic through Ditchling will impact adversely upon the road layout in our rural village which is already ill-equipped to handle current traffic volumes. The additional vehicles during construction by workforce and after by residents’ commutes, delivery and service vehicles would further strain the infrastructure, exacerbating congestion, road safety concerns and noise levels within our community.

"This particular application comes at a time when many other residential developments are being planned on sites in Hassocks, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and Wivelsfield. All of these will add further traffic to the existing highway network, some of which will inevitably go through Ditchling, Westmeston and Streat: from Wivelsfield and Haywards Heath to the north, it will go towards Brighton and Lewes; from Hassocks and Burgess Hill to the west, it will go towards Lewes and east Brighton.”

Hassocks Parish Council supported the comments from Ditchling Parish Council.

Despite residents’ concerns about the possible impact on the environment, the Environment Agency’s submitted a letter that said: “We have no objection to the proposal as submitted.”

A letter from Natural England said: “Based on the evidence submitted, Natural England considers that the proposed development will not have significant adverse impacts on statutorily protected nature conservation sites or landscapes.”

The application’s design and access statement said Catesby are ‘committed to bringing forward sustainable residential developments that enhance the area in which they are located’. It said Rurban Estates ‘promote low carbon principles’ and aim to ‘enhance the place and setting while delivering greener communities’.

The statement said: “The overarching Vision for Land east of Lunce’s Hill, Haywards Heath, is to deliver a high-quality, locally distinguishable and sustainable addition to Haywards Heath. The proposed development will provide an opportunity to deliver much needed new housing, enhancing and complementing the existing settlement edge, while taking advantage of the extensive services, facilities and amenities that the local area has to offer.”

It said the development proposes: the creation of ‘meaningful’ open green spaces, enhanced landscape planting to complement existing mature vegetation, and sustainable drainage features support and enhance the site’s biodiversity and ecological value. The plan also aims to respect ancient woodland.