‘Marooned in luxury confinement’ - revised housing plans for private KEVII estate near Easebourne opposed

Permission is being sought for extra care homes, 84 at Kings Green East and 14 at Superintendent’s Drive, alongside changes to the Grade II* former chapel building so it can be used as a restaurant with a cafe and shop.

Enabling development was approved in 2011 to ensure the restoration and maintenance of a number of heritage assets at the estate including refurbishment and conversation of the main sanatorium building to private apartments.

But two further applications, one for 93 dwellings on Kings Green East, and another for 18 homes at Superintendent’s Drive, were both refused by the South Downs National Park Authority back in January 2020.

Revised plans have now been submitted to the national park, but both Midhurst Town Council and Easebourne Parish Council, alongside a number of residents, have objected to the revised plans.

The parish council suggested very little had changed from the 2019/20 application and described it as ‘astonishing that very little appears to have been learnt from the previous refusal’. The submission added: “The opportunity to present a plan which provides a carefully considered mix of housing at an acceptable density and which settles into the landscape and current built environment appears to once again have been missed.”

Concerns are also raised about water supply, travel and accessibility, commercial viability of the restaurant, affordable housing, design, consultation and ecology.

The parish council has also questioned the classification of the homes as C2 (residential accommodation with elements of care) due to the self-contained nature of the homes with full domestic facilities and the difficulties navigating the routes to the communal facilities.

It added: “Should this development truly be use class C2, that presents other almost more worrying concerns, as if this results in residents who due to the impact of aging are unable to drive, this location will effectively maroon them in a luxury confinement, with very limited opportunity to escape even for everyday essentials.”

The development has not been served by public transport since habitation, with access to the bus service requiring a mile-long walk along a busy unlit rural road.

Meanwhile the town council has also raised concerns about the impact on already stretched medical facilities in Midhurst, stress on the water and sewage system, lack of public transport and the need to protect the national park’s landscape.

One objector said: “The design of the buildings would fit well in a University Campus or Army Barracks but certainly not in the stunning South Downs.”

Another wrote: The KEVII Estate is not an appropriate location for a major, commercial 98-dwelling senior retirement facility spread over three distanced and poorly connected sites.”