Approved Lindfield development’s design splits opinion

Detailed plans for 200 homes in Lindfield have been approved by Mid Sussex councillors – somewhat reluctantly in a few cases.
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Outline permission for the plans, which include a 9.5-acre country park, was granted following an appeal to the Secretary of State after being refused by the council in 2016.

Set on land south of Scamps Lane off Scaynes Hill Road, full details of the application were given the nod at a meeting of the planning committee on Thursday (January 14).

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But not everyone was very happy with the look of the new homes.

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Rex Whittaker (Con, East Grinstead – Imberhorne) described the layout of the site as ‘very good’ and the landscaping as ‘exceptional’ – but said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the ‘bland boxes’ which would be the houses.

Gary Marsh (Con, Ardingly & Balcombe) agreed, suggesting the homes would look better in Croydon than rural Mid Sussex.

He added: “I can’t have been the only person here thinking ‘Oh my God, these are the ugliest buildings I’ve seen for a very, very long time’.”

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Chairman Robert Salisbury spoke up in favour of the design, calling it ‘quite exciting’ and pointed out that saying ‘I don’t like it’ was not a planning reason to refuse the plans.

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Proposed site layout

Mr Marsh also questioned why so many of the houses had four and five bedrooms, predicting they would not be easy to sell.

The development will be made up of 16 one-bedroom and 28 two-bedroom flats, along with 30 two-bedroom, 73 three-bedroom, 45 four-bedroom and 8 five-bedroom houses.

A major positive to the development – known as Walstead Park – was the amount of affordable housing included.

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Developer Southern Housing Group, a not-for-profit registered housing provider, will make 30 of the flats and 40 of the two and three-bedroom houses affordable – 10 more than the council would have asked for.

The outline plans, which were approved in 2018, included space for a small school.

The transfer of that land to West Sussex County Council, along with a financial contribution, was secured in the signed S106 legal agreement.

The meeting was told it would be up to the county council to come forward with an application to build the school at a later date.

The application was approved by 10 votes to one.

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