Willingdon residents have success in getting plans refused

Residents in Willingdon objected to a planning application and now the council has refused it.
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Plans were submitted to Wealden District Council for a garage to be demolished and replaced with a two-bed house on land east of Chalk Farm and south of Coopers Croft in Coopers Hill.

What followed was a total of 29 objections from members of the public and Willingdon & Jevington Parish Council objected to the plans too.

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Issues raised in the council’s planning committee meeting on August 31 included problems around parking, highway safety, and the site becoming a ‘cramped overdevelopment’.

The proposed plan was on land east of Chalk Farm and south of Coopers Croft in Coopers Hill. Photo from Google Maps. SUS-210928-115942001The proposed plan was on land east of Chalk Farm and south of Coopers Croft in Coopers Hill. Photo from Google Maps. SUS-210928-115942001
The proposed plan was on land east of Chalk Farm and south of Coopers Croft in Coopers Hill. Photo from Google Maps. SUS-210928-115942001

Members of the public also argued ‘parking and use of Coopers Hill is already an issue and would be worsened by this development,’ visual obstructions and said it would be an ‘inappropriate development’, according to the planning documents.

As a result of these objections, the plans have now been refused by Wealden District Council (WDC).

The officer report from the council said, “The proposed dwelling by virtue of its detailed design, siting, relationship with the retained garaging and footpath, boundary replacements and positioning on this small and prominent corner plot would result in a cramped overdevelopment of this constrained plot providing a poor level of amenity to future occupiers and causing significant harm to the existing character of the area.”

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In response to the news, Willingdon Residents Association posted on Facebook, “Some good news re Coopers Hill garage planning application to cheer everybody up!

“Many thanks to all those who joined the parish council and Willingdon Residents Association and wrote against this application.”

Councillor John Pritchett BEM, chairman of Willingdon Residents Association, said, “We are delighted that common sense has prevailed once more.

“It will also be a great relief to Farmer Brown, Chalk Farm Hotel and Nursery, not to mention the residents who would have been greatly affected by such a development here.

“We are now hoping that the 300-year-old flint wall that was partially demolished will be reinstated in its same position along with the destroyed highway grass verge.”