Councillors approve next stage of a major East Sussex housing development

On Wednesday (October 9), Lewes District Council’s planning committee approved a reserved matters application connected with plans to build 96 homes on land to the east of Ditchling Road.

The scheme had already been granted outline planning permission, meaning the principle of developing the site had already been established.

While recommended for approval, objectors argued the final development would harm the character of Wivelsfield Green due to its design and layout.

Among those to raise concerns was Harriet Martin, chairman of Wivelsfield Parish Council, who said: “We’ve always maintained that the design is too suburban and inappropriate for the semi-rural edge-of-village site that it is.

“For example, there is too little green space between the houses, the gardens aren’t big enough, too many straight lines of dwellings and too much uniform brick, without thinking of breaking this up any more.

“I would also like to comment on the fact that, in addition, 10 of the affordable homes are one-bedroom flats. Our neighbourhood plan identifies clearly that what we need are two- and three-bedroom homes within the affordable [housing], not one-bedroom flats.”

Cllr Martin went on to raise concerns about a right of way which runs through the site. She argued it would be better if this route was redirected in an effort to preserve a more rural appearance.

This view was shared by the planning committee, with members opting to add a condition requiring developers to discuss the matter with East Sussex County Council. The committee also opted to add further conditions around materials and a requirement for allotments to be provided before the site is fully occupied.

With these additional conditions, the committee considered the overall design to be acceptable and approved the application.

The scheme is to comprise of: 15 one-bed apartments; three two-bed apartments, 18 two-bed houses; 24 three-bed houses; and 36 four-bed houses. Of these, all of the apartments would be classed as affordable housing, as would seven of the two-bed houses, 12 of the three-bed houses and one of the four-bed houses.

For further information about the scheme see application reference LW/24/0178 on the Lewes District Council website.