Plan to restore meadow and woodland in East Grinstead causes concerns over HGVs

Standen Tip, on Evergreen Farm, East Grinstead, was closed in the early 1990s and turned to rough pasture.

Now applicant Chirs Pearce aims to spend two years importing more than 190,000 tonnes of inert clay and soil waste, transforming the site into a mix of native broadleaf woodland and native grassland meadow.

The plans will be considered at a meeting of the Planning and Rights of Way Committee on Tuesday (September 7).

This will not be the first time the committee has looked at the application.

It was deferred in June to allow Mr Pearce to reconsider the amount of material proposed as well as the impact on road safety and traffic management.

The original idea was to import the soil in 80 weeks using 31 daily deliveries by HGV, including Saturdays.

A report to the committee said: “The applicant has proposed amendments to remove working on Saturdays and to import the material over a longer period of time.

“This would result in fewer daily HGV movements but increase the total length of time to undertake the development, including for the progressive restoration of the site.”

If the application is approved, the work will take 104 weeks to complete, rather than 80, and there will be 25 deliveries per day, rather than 31.

The idea of HGVs going to and from the site – past schools and nurseries – was the main concern raised in more than 240 objections sent to the council.

One objector wrote: “The infrastructure in East Grinstead already struggles with traffic. The roads are too congested, speeding is also a problem, and frankly adding HGV vehicles at this level is at best an accident waiting to happen, at worst a reason to no longer come anywhere near East Grinstead.”

To view the application in full, log on to westsussex.planning-register.co.uk and search for WSCC/004/20.