Bid to stop farm homes

Twenty-five Bird in Eye residents attended a parish council meeting to express their concern about the farm being earmarked, in the Wealden Local Plan, along with Harlands Farm as the site for 500 homes.

District councillor Jack Gore told the meeting it was early days in the production of the plan and he thought it best that any campaign wait until public consultation on the first draft begins in January.

In the meantime it was decided that parish councillors should submit their views on the development in writing to clerk Mrs Ann Newton by November 17 to consolidate a view. Then a public meeting should be called to decide how to proceed.

Mrs Newton said after the meeting that Cllr Gore warned it was unlikely that Bird in Eye would be removed from the plan because of the delay that would cause to its publication.

People were most concerned about the access to the development being from the already congested Framfield Road. They talked about proposals for Downlands Farm at the opposite end of Uckfield which had not been included in the plan and argued it would be more sensible to develop there than at Bird in Eye.

Mrs Newton said people were also very concerned about the countryside gap between Framfield and Uckfield and asked why it was so important to preserve the gap between Maresfield and Uckfield while allowing the Framfield gap to be eaten away.