jstockdale
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South Downs Road development - 2007/07/06 10:13
LDC Planning Committee decide the detailed planning application for this site on Wedneday 11 July at 5pm in the Corn Exchange.
Outline planning was agreed in 2005 for 125 dwellings and 30,000 sq ft offices on the old town dump. Patcham Developments then sold on with the main benefit stated in their advert as 'No requirement to include affordable housing'. Patcham, of course, sold the Phoenix site to Angel Property when their application was turned down. The new developer added one or more floors to most of the buildings (beginning to ring a few bells?), crept them nearer the boundary and eliminated the screen of trees between the development and existing houses. But the officers have nevertheless decided to recommend approval.
This is a very major development to add to the 2 million houses on the floodplain across the country. The 27,000 plus houses that have been flooded in the midlands and Yorkshire are beyond the ability of the local building industry to fix in a reasonable timescale and the displaced families are beyond the ability of the authorities to rehouse. The flood wall that protects Malling Brooks will be overtaken by sea level rise within the lifetime of these properties.
Major developments on the floodplain in Lewes are all interconnected. Permission for one serves as a precedent for the next - and the Planning Authority get inured to doing things that don't make any commonsense every time they do so. If you can, turn up and support local residents and Lewes Flood Action who are objecting. If nothing else a big turnout will warn the Council that there may be trouble ahead.
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