District Council approve 20 new homes at Foundry Close
On the 29th of October 2020, the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group and Hurst Green Parish Council received a planning decision notice from Rother District Council, the notice outlined the approval for the planning application at Foundry Close.
In the works since the previous unsuccessful planning application by Millwood Designer Homes, the approved scheme features 20 new homes, and in a revision from the submitted application, this now contains 8 affordable homes.
The approved scheme is smaller than the original, that proposed some 60 homes, but larger than the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group and the Parish Council recommended, who based upon a report written for the Parish Council from consultancy AECOM, noted that the site, based on size alone, could only accommodate a maximum of 18 homes. The Land Owners, in a bid to obtain planning permission and an agreement around affordable homes, increased this to 20 new homes, with 8 of these to be affordable.
Despite the problems with parking in and around Hurst Green village, the scheme’s parking provision is in accordance with, and higher than is required of new developments, as determined by the East Sussex County Council’s Residential Parking Demand Calculator. The approved scheme has 29 car parking spaces to be shared by the 20 new homes, with 17 further spaces being provided as unallocated parking bays. The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group despite pushing for further spaces to be allocated, feel this allocation is too small for the development, with most families in Hurst Green having access to, or ownership of more than 1 car. The unallocated parking spaces include 5 bays adjacent to the existing Foundry Close, which according to the District Council’s commentary, is intended to go some way towards meeting a need from existing local residents without on-plot parking to park their vehicles on Foundry Close.
Residents of Hurst Green may be surprised to learn that the planning documents reveal that both Highways England and East Sussex Highways were consulted in respect of the new development, and that neither raised any objections.
All of the homes are to be two storeys in height, although three of the dwellings are to be 2.5 storeys in height, containing roof dormers. There is a mix of elevational treatments consisting of weatherboard, tile hanging, brick and painted render; and a mix of plain tiles or slates to the roofs of the dwellings.
The layout of the development retains provision for extending the site south to ensure that road access through the site to the adjacent Neighbourhood Plan HG40 site is provided and maintained.
The District Council have responded to the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group’s comment in the planning decision notice, noting that respect of the size of the proposed area annotated on the plan as ‘peace garden’, remarking that “as the applicant has pointed out this small public garden area has only been included at the suggestion of the Parish Council and there is no policy requirement to
provide public open space as part of the development. Moreover, the applicant has stated that it would not be in the applicant’s interest to leave this poorly landscaped or as a blank canvass as the applicants’ aim is to make the landscaping as attractive as possible with a view towards selling the houses.”
View the original Parish Council’s response to the planning application here: https://hurstgreen2030.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Foundry-Close-Planning-Application-RR20192194P-on-site-HG-35-Parish-Council.pdf