50 new homes approved for Cuckfield

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Plans to build 50 homes in Cuckfield have been approved by Mid Sussex District Council.

The application from Sigma Homes Ltd for land south of Hanlye Lane was given the nod by the planning committee on Thursday (December 12).

The council received 35 letters objecting to the proposals, with concerns raised including over-development, the impact on neighbouring homes, light pollution, and the impact on wildlife.

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Adrian Podmore, of Cuckfield Parish Council, told the meeting the development would create a ‘jarring, discordant, urban wall which will materially demean the landscape around it’.

But the site is allocated for 55 homes in the Mid Sussex Development Plan – and most of the committee members supported the planning officer’s recommendation to approve the application.

Rodney Jackson (Lib Dem, Hurstpierpoint) said: “We desperately need housing of all kinds and this seems to fit the bill.”

And Malcolm Avery (Con, Cuckfield, Bolney & Ansty) was pleased with the level of contributions to be paid by the developer as part of a S106 legal agreement.

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The money includes £57,440 for sports facilities at Whitemans Green/or Cuckfield Recreation Ground, and £32,944 for improvements to the 1st Cuckfield Scout Group hut and/or Cuckfield Village Hall and/or Queens Hall.

Some were not so happy. While Richard Bates (Lib Dem, Haywards Heath Ashenground) said he was not opposed to developing the site, he felt the design and layout were not good enough.

But the application was approved by eight votes to zero with two abstentions.

A requirement was included to ensure that there was no ‘wriggle room’ for the open space included in the development to be built on later.

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The development will be made up of nine one-bedroom, nine two-bedroom, 22 three-bedroom, six four-bedroom and four five-bedroom homes. Fifteen of them will be classed as affordable.

To view the application, log on to pa.midsussex.gov.uk and search for DM/23/2610.

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