Revised plans for replacement Crowborough care home approved

Revised proposals for a new care home in Crowborough have been approved by planners.

On Thursday (September 17), Wealden District Council’s planning committee north approved proposals to demolish the vacant Harecombe Manor Nursing Home in Southview Road and replace it with a new 81-bed facility.

A similar scheme had been before the committee in August, but was deferred by councillors who requested a redesign to reduce the size and scale of the proposals and the inclusion of more parking spaces.

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Following the deferral, developers brought back a new scheme which reduced the overall size of the building and slightly increased the number of parking spaces (from 30 to 32).

For ward councillor Neil Waller, however, the changes to the scheme did not did not go far enough.  

Cllr Waller said: “As local member I asked the committee to refuse this application at the August meeting, however I was not unhappy with the decision to defer.

“The clear message from the committee was that the deferral would give the applicant, planning officers and local residents time to work together to agree an acceptable scheme for the Harecombe Manor site.

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“I was therefore surprised to see a resubmission so quickly and it is apparent that the applicant has not  consulted with either planning officers, or more importantly, the local residents. 

“I can only assume that the applicant heard but did not listen to the debate and as a result the revised application before the committee today has  paid little more than lip service to that process.”

Cllr Waller went on to describe the reduction in size as “marginal” before calling on the committee to refuse the scheme, rather than agree to a further deferral.

Several other committee members also spoke against the scheme, with particular concerns raised over the traffic impact of the care home and number of parking spaces proposed.

The committee as a whole felt differently, however.

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Among those to speak in favour of the scheme was Gary Johnson (Con, Uckfield Ridgewood and Little Horsted), who said: “I was for this application last time [and] nothing has really changed.

“I understand that [the committee] may be a little bit disappointed; they could have had more parking spaces maybe, but they’ve done what was asked of them.

“Going back to what I said the first time around with the CQC and their regulations for a care home, you do unfortunately have to build from scratch really to keep things sustainable and viable.”

Those speaking in favour of the scheme also noted that the developer had agreed to conditions to achieve an “excellent” energy efficiency standard and would include a museum space to retain parts of the original building.

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Following further discussion the application was approved on a vote of eight to two, with one abstention.