Application for 140 homes near East Sussex village gets dozens of objections: development will provide much needed housing, says company

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
An outline planning application for 140 new homes on greenfield land at Ringmer has received dozens of objections.

Catesby Strategic Land Limited applied to Lewes District Council, via the agent Judith Ashton Associates, for the development at Howells Bank Farm, Broyle Lane.

The proposal is also for associated infrastructure, including a spine road with access from Broyle Lane, a network of internal roads and car and cycle parking. It also aims to provide open space, play facilities, utilities infrastructure and surface water drainage features.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The application is at planningpa.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/online-applications (reference LW/24/0760).

Catesby Strategic Land Limited want to build 140 new homes on greenfield land at Howells Bank Farm, Broyle Lane, in Ringmer. Photo: Catesby Strategic Land via Lewes District CouncilCatesby Strategic Land Limited want to build 140 new homes on greenfield land at Howells Bank Farm, Broyle Lane, in Ringmer. Photo: Catesby Strategic Land via Lewes District Council
Catesby Strategic Land Limited want to build 140 new homes on greenfield land at Howells Bank Farm, Broyle Lane, in Ringmer. Photo: Catesby Strategic Land via Lewes District Council

The design and access statement said the aim is to ‘provide a wide range of high quality new homes in a variety of types and sizes’. It is also to provide 40 per cent affordable housing ‘with no visual distinction between the open-market and affordable homes to create a mixed tenure community’.

The application for the 16.12 hectare site lists: 80 houses, 42 ‘social, affordable or intermediate rent’ houses, 14 ‘affordable home ownership’ houses and four self-build and custom build houses.

Since the council received the application in December, the proposal has received dozens of objections with residents concerned about issues, including: drainage and flooding, a possible impact on wildlife, a lack of infrastructure, loss of trees, noise, traffic and over-development.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

One said: “The addition of 140 homes will significantly increase pressure on local infrastructure including roads, schools, healthcare facilities and public transport. Many of these are already operating at or beyond capacity.”

One resident doubted Ringmer could cope with further development, saying: “There are plenty of brownfield sites in Lewes District Council that developers should be told to apply for instead of allowing development in greenfields.”

One one resident said: “These houses will end up joining the two halves of the village together.” They said: “Can we not just leave a little bit of Ringmer alone for people to walk their dogs, take a stroll on a Sunday morning in the countryside? The fields in Ringmer are gradually disappearing (and) soon no countryside will be left.”

The proposal’s design and access statement said the goal is to ‘create a visually attractive, safe environment with the provision of significant areas of new public open spaces’. It said this would give the existing and future community better access to the natural environment while supporting healthy lifestyles.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The statement also said the development aims to: enhance the range of leisure walking routes within open spaces, retain and supplement hedgerows and tree planting to create ‘an enduring and connected landscape structure’, and enhance the biodiversity and ecological value of the site.

One of the plan’s Landscape Strategy Principles is to expand the woodland block to create a northern edge to the settlement. It said the land north can be used as ‘multifunction green infrastructure’ for the wider community, adding that new woodland planting would ensure its longevity and may incorporate orchard planting to ‘mitigate historic and local loss’.

The design and access statement concluded: “Development of the land at Howells Farm will provide much needed local housing and will include up to 140 new homes including market and affordable homes designed as a natural and logical extension to Broyleside.”

It said the proposed development complies with relevant design policies of the Adopted Lewes Local Plan and said the design process, strategies and principles for this project are all ‘underpinned by good practice urban design approaches advocated both nationally and locally’.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It said the 140 homes and open space could be delivered ‘in a sensitive and sustainable manner’. It added: “Taking all of the criteria together alongside the economic and social benefits that this development will bring to the area it is considered that the proposed outline development will contribute to improvements in the function, character and quality of this part of Broyleside.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice