Nine-home Blackboys development refused

On Thursday (August 18), Wealden District Council’s Planning Committee North turned down an application seeking permission to build nine houses on land to the west of the Blackboys Recreation Grounds, off of the B2102.

Planners had already granted outline permission to build up to seven houses on the same land, but refused another nine-home scheme due to concerns about its layout and design.

According to the developer, the revised scheme sought to overcome the previous reasons for refusal through a revised layout. They argued these changes, which took into account comments from a dismissed appeal, should make the scheme acceptable.

While this view was shared by planning officers, who had recommended it be approved, the committee felt the scheme’s design and layout remained unacceptable.

Proposing refusal, Cllr Bob Standley (Con, Frant and Wadhurst) said: “The applicant has an extant permission for seven [houses] and I’m not quite sure why they’ve come back for nine. That is their decision, but it is a bad design.

“As the parish council said, this is a linear development. It is unnecessary, it’s a bit Legoland and a ‘not objectionable design’ [as it was described by officers] is fairly faint praise.”

The committee also raised concerns about the impact of the scheme on the local sewerage network and whether there would be adequate capacity for the additional houses.

As with other recent decisions, the committee also criticised Southern Water for the amount of information it had provided in connection with the scheme.

Ultimately the scheme was refused on a unanimous vote.