Three new Bexhill homes approved despite wildlife concerns

A housing development in Bexhill has been approved, despite outstanding concerns surrounding its potential impact on badgers.
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On Thursday (June 23), Rother District Council’s planning committee gave the go ahead to proposals to demolish a bungalow in Seabourne Road and build three houses in its place.

The hearing marked the third time the scheme — itself a resubmission of a previously approved development — had been before the committee in recent months, having been deferred twice before in light of councillors’ concerns.

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The most recent deferral (following a meeting in May), came solely as councillors wanted further advice around the law and guidance surrounding the protection of badgers living on the site.

Proposed site layout for the three new homes in Seabourne Road, BexhillProposed site layout for the three new homes in Seabourne Road, Bexhill
Proposed site layout for the three new homes in Seabourne Road, Bexhill

During that earlier hearing, the committee had heard that any planning permission would require mitigation works to limit any disturbance to the protected species. Officers said these works, which would likely include the creation of an artificial badger sett, would require the developer to secure a licence from Natural England.

The committee wanted more information about the law surrounding this licensing process, leading the council to take legal advice between hearings.

This advice, officers said, was that planning permission could not be granted unless the licence from Natural England was ‘likely’ to be granted. But officers also said they considered this was the case as Natural England had not indicated that migration works would be impossible (even though it had raised concerns about the developer’s initial proposals).

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In light of this, officer advice was to approve the scheme with conditions requiring the proposals be signed off and licenced by Natural England before work could move ahead.

Despite some reservations, the committee ultimately accepted this recommendation.

Cllr Tony Ganly (Con) thought it was ‘absolutely bonkers’ they were expected to guess what Natural England will do, but added: “Be that as it may, we have deferred this application twice. We have debated it ad nauseum and I think time has come to make a decision. We obviously have to allow Natural England to make the decision regarding badgers and therefore I move approval.” In granting permission, the committee put in a further condition requiring an ecologist to be on site for any works related to the development.

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