Plans for 32 homes at Yapton development refused

An application was submitted by Seaward Properties for the homes, parking and landscaping at Bonhams Field, Main Road.

The site already has permission for 16 homes as part of a larger agreement for 56 dwellings which has been implemented. This would mean 72 dwellings in total.

In September 2020 an amended scheme for 75 dwellings at Bonhams Field was submitted to Arun District Council but refused.

The new plan ‘seeks to address’ the reasons for refusal, said Luken Beck in a design and access statement on behalf of Seaward.

These included over intensification, concerns over the housing mix and the impact on the sewerage network.

Officers have now refused the current plan saying it was 'an unsatisfactory form of development resulting in harm to the historical and low density character of this edge of settlement location and the amenities of future residents'.

"This is borne out by the increased site density, the relationship of houses to each other, of parking spaces to dwellings and interface distances between buildings," they said.

The layout fails to show the safeguarded area on the north eastern boundary or to indicate a path link to ensure a connection via the adjoining agricultural track into the adjacent Stakers Farm development.

"The proposal therefore fails to meet the aims of Arun District Council and Yapton Parish Council in securing an alternative route for pedestrians and cyclists around the western edge of Yapton," the decision report said.

It failed to achieve an appropriate housing size mix resulting in harm to the future provision of housing to cater for specific needs of the district.

There was also a conflict between what had already been legally agreed for the site in terms of infrastructure, including affordable homes, and the requirements of the new application.

There was insufficient information about the foul sewerage network.

Yapton Parish Council objected saying the site is key to the setting of both a conservation area and reflecting Yapton's historic rural identity and so should not become an overdeveloped residential area.

It said there was no material difference between the refused application and this new application which proposes an overall total of only three less dwellings and there was insufficient parking provision.

No need for further dwellings as the parish has already exceeded its medium-term local allocation and it fails to meet ADC's affordable housing policy.

There were a further 11 letters of objection.

To see the full details go to the Arun District Council planning portal and use the search reference Y/186/21/PL.