Plans for 24 new flats in Haywards Heath approved

The application for land in Franklands Village was given the nod during a meeting of the planning committee on Thursday (November 10).

The council received 14 letters objecting to the plans, with over-development and the area’s ongoing parking problems at the top of the list of concerns. Both concerns were echoed by a number of the committee members as well as public speakers who addressed the meeting.

The development will be made up of two 3.5-storey blocks of flats, with parking for 18 cars on site and a further six a few yards up the road to the north. Phillip Coote (Con, Crawley Down & Turners Hill) said it was’ridiculous’ to only have one parking space per flat, especially given the parking concerns already apparent in Franklands Village.

He added: “If we give planning permission with the current parking spaces there are going to be social problems in the future. Somebody’s going to come home, somebody’s had to park in front of his house, he’s going to say ‘get out of the way’, the other gentleman’s going to use some bad language and you’ve got neighbours at loggerheads. And that’s down to us.”

Concerns were also raised about affordable housing. A similar application for the site was approved in 2019 – though that consent expired in April. While both the Haywards Heath Neighbourhood Plan and the Mid Sussex District Plan require 30 per cent of new homes to be classed as affordable, the applicant said that would have made the scheme non-viable.

Instead, a payment of £47,769 for the provision of affordable housing elsewhere was agreed. That legal agreement was carried over to the latest application. The plans were approved by eight votes to one.

To view the application, log on to pa.midsussex.gov.uk and search for DM/22/1371.