'No answer' from Wealden Council over 150 homes threat to business

The owner of a small business which will be swept away when 150 new homes are built in Crowborough says ‘answers are required from Wealden District Council (WDC) but they are providing none.
The garage is threatened by the 150 homes developmentThe garage is threatened by the 150 homes development
The garage is threatened by the 150 homes development

The owner of a small business which will be swept away when 150 new homes are built in Crowborough says ‘answers are required from Wealden District Council (WDC) but they are providing none.’

However WDC says it has attempted to help Mick Pannell of Orchid Garage, Orchard Road. Leader Bob Standley describes helping him to find alternative accommodation.

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Mick Pannell said: “WDC has agreed to 150 houses at the Orchid Riding Centre resulting in my employees and I losing our livelihoods. This decision has already strangled a number of small businesses there. Only my business survives currently but this will succumb once the new development gets underway. The community loses another important service - we support local schools, residents and other providers and have done for over a quarter of a century. Without any commercial land allocations in Crowborough, business users are being starved out.

“This forces local residents to commute out of their area in order to use essential services. No consideration is given to the harmful effect on the environment allowing this development will cause. WDC owns two acres of undeveloped industrial land locally given to them for start-up units in the 1980s. What is going on?

“With this shining example of WDC’s incompetence and dereliction of duty, what hope is there for my staff, customers and indeed, for my business?

“Traffic management is fudged. The decision neatly covers up grave misgivings raised by officers at a meeting last December. Without serious modifications, the highway infrastructure in Walshes, Whitehill and Western Roads will grind to a complete halt.”

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Cllr Standley says: “In our most recent conversation only last week, Mr Pannell made me aware of another privately owned site and I advised him to contact our council to discuss the possibility of a new unit that would allow his business to relocate. I am also aware that Mr Pannell has been in contact with local commercial agents which have sought to assist him in finding the right premises. I, together with Cllr Newton and Cllr Galley, recently met with representatives of Crowborough Chamber of Commerce to discuss possible employment sites in the town and are exploring the suggested sites.”