Fresh housing plan for former village fire station site

In an application to Wealden District Council a developer is seeking planning permission to build housing in place of a long-disused former fire station in Fletching Street. 

The application follows on from a former version of the scheme, which was turned down by council planners in 2019 and subsequently defeated on appeal. However, the applicant says this new version of the proposals overcomes the previous reasons for refusal.

In application documents, a spokesman for the applicant said: “The planning inspector was quite specific that, although he had reservations about the previous scheme, he considers the site to be suitable for development in principle. 

“This revised application, for this unused plot, now seeks to address the earlier grounds for refusal and brings forward an alternative proposal for a small, but varied development of three houses.”

According to the applicant, the main differences between this proposal and the previous scheme are around height and bulk, with more varied designs they argue are more in-keeping with the surrounding area.

The proposed homes will also be further away from existing properties, in an effort to maintain the privacy and quality of life of neighbours.

The proposals would involve the demolition of a one-storey building – last used as a fire station in the 1980s – with a pair of two-bed semi-detached houses and a detached three-bed house to be built in its place.

According to planning documents, the existing building was built sometime in the late 1940s and has been largely disused since being sold to the applicant’s family in the 1980s.

The site is also within is in the Mayfield and Coggins Mills Conservation Area.

For further information on the proposals see application reference WD/2021/0269/F on the Wealden District Council website.