Anger over lostRother letters

Winchelsea Heritage conservation group has accused Rother District Council’s planning department of losing at least two letters in the space of a few months.

The first was from a resident asking for advice on whether he needed planning permission to repair the roof on his listed cottage.

The second was a letter from Winchelsea Heritage on a sensitive planning application in the conservation area by a local caravan park.

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Winchelsea Heritage claims the loss of the first letter caused considerable inconvenience and expense to the householder.

It is concerned the loss of the second could have been interpreted by the planning committee as lack of local opposition to an inappropriate development in a sensitive area.

The group has written to Rother’s head of planning, Tim Hickling, to draw his attention to the problem, and has taken the precaution of posting its letter by recorded delivery.

A Rother Council spokesman said: “If a person or organisation believes a letter sent to us has been lost, we’d encourage them to contact us directly so the matter can be investigated.

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“We do maintain an efficient post room which handles large volumes of mail every week, however as with any postal correspondence to any organisation, there is always a small risk of letters being lost in transit by the postal service unless they are sent by recorded delivery.

“Anyone who submits a comment on a planning application online will automatically receive an email to confirm that their comment has been received.”