Buyers sought for parcels of surplus Westfield land

County council owned land in Westfield is to be put up for sale after being declared surplus to requirements.
NewsNews
News

At a meeting on Tuesday (January 22), East Sussex County Council’s lead member for resources David Elkin agreed to the sale of a small parcel of land at Greenacres Road in Westfield.

Originally acquired as part of a planned bypass project, the council says the land could be sold off to a developer seeking to build a small number of houses.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A report on the proposals says part of the land may also be used as a footpath and notes that several neighbours have previously expressed interest in purchasing part of the land to extend their gardens.

The report said: “The property offers no future operational use for the county council and if retained could continue to incur security and maintenance costs.

“Part of the land has been previously licensed to adjacent house owners, who may be interested in a purchase.”

Cllr Elkin also agreed to revise a previous land disposal agreement in Westfield at the same meeting.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Known as Moorhurst, the site in Main Road was declared surplus to council need in 2011 and had been planned to be disposed of to a care home operator under a long leasehold agreement.

The agreement would have seen a new care home built on the site to replace an existing 19-bed care home.

While the original care home was demolished and a replacement granted planning permission, the agreement eventually fell through before building work began.

The site has since been identified by Rother District Council as being suitable for retirement housing, with a 40 per cent affordable property mix.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In light of this, Cllr Elkin agreed for the land to be put up for sale on the open market in hopes of finding a developer to bring a project forward.

The council is expected to bring request pre-application advice from Rother planners as part of the sale process.

During the meeting, Cllr Elkin also agreed to the disposal of a residential property in Lewes and a former learning disabilities home in Westfield Lane in Hastings.

Following his decision, Cllr Elkin asked officers whether for sale signs could be put up at the properties to inform local residents.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “With all of these, I’m pretty aware that it has caused some concerns in communities that they have just stood there empty as a bit of an eyesore.

“Where we can [we should put up signs], it reassures the community we are doing something with it. Whatever we can do to communicate that.”