New look for ugly building

ONE of Uckfield's more unattractive buildings could be replaced if plans for a new set of apartments are accepted.

Developers hope to demolish the prefabricated structure, on Bell Farm Lane, and build a two-storey block of flats in its place.

The new building, which has been designed to withstand all but the worst floods, would house apartments pitched at the first time buyer's market.

The planning application, which was lodged this week, is a joint venture between Clearwater Building and Sussex Stationers.

Both Clearwater and sister company Neilly-Smith Architecture are based in the current building. Director Steven Neilly described the present structure as an 'ugly, single storey building'.

He said: 'This would be a significant improvement on the current street scene. It's one of the major routes into the town and is in close proximity to both the bus and railway stations.'

The ground floor of the building would house 1,200 square feet of office space. This would be occupied by Clearwater Building and Neilly-Smith Architecture.

The first floor would house 16 one- or two-bedroom apartments. Some of these apartments would be built into the roof, effectively forming a third floor. The flats would be between 600 and 700 square feet.

The building's exterior would feature decorative tile-hanging, white weatherboarding, dormer windows, oak framed glazed gables with finials, jettying and plain roof tiles. The property would have its own covered parking area and both the ground and first floors would have disabled access.

Mr Neilly said a specialist consultant had been employed to undertake a flood risk assessment on the proposed building.

He said: 'From that information, we were able to estimate what the maximum flood level should be, based on a one in 150-year flood.'

The interior ground floor level would be 145 millimetres above the level of the October 2000 flood, while access doors to the apartments would be positioned outside the maximum flood level.

Mr Neilly said the consultant had liaised closely with the Environment Agency regarding flood risk assessment. 'They were very appreciative of that,' he said.

If passed by planners, building work on the 1 million proposal is expected to start in spring 2003 and be finished by spring 2004.