New homes planned for Icklesham are not in the right place

In response to the recent article in the Rye Observer last week inviting opinions on the Affordable Housing Project in Icklesham, I would like to say that I do not think that the site is appropriate.

The “exception” sites should be centrally located in the village, this site is about a mile from the school and even further away from the recreation ground and village hall. There is no shop in the village, it is on a very busy fast road on which there was a fatal accident in recent years.

The proposed site is in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Where all the other neighbouring properties are bungalows, these new houses would have a huge impact on the landscape. The site was selected by the Parish Councillors before the CLT was formed and we were told by one of the councillors that it was chosen because this site would have the least opposition!

At the Affordable Housing Consultation Event on Monday, July 16 held at the Robin Hood Public House, the aerial images on display were out of date, showing our property, which is behind the row of bungalows, as agricultural – our house was built in 2008 and it has not been an agricultural property since 2013. This is giving a false impression of the impact on immediate neighbouring properties. I don’t think that concerns raised to councillors have really been acknowledged and at the Parish Council AGM this year the project was skipped over and at this meeting one of the councillors told residents that the project would go ahead whatever they do to try to stop it. I believe that there could also be problems with water pressure, the sewage system and the surface water.