Council-led Hollington housing development approved

Council proposals for a housing development in Hollington have been approved following a short deferral.
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On Wednesday (February 3), Hastings Borough Council’s planning committee approved an outline application – submitted by the council itself – seeking permission to build 38 houses on a greenfield site off of Bodiam Drive.

The application had been before the committee in January, but was deferred in light of concerns from ward councillors Paul Barnett and Maya Evans around the amount of leisure space on and near the site.

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Sharing the ward councillors’ concerns, the committee deferred the scheme to see whether the development could put money towards improving a play area in Watermill Drive, rather than other play areas in the town.

Greenfield land off Bodiam Drive is set to be developed by the council (Photo from Google Maps Street View)Greenfield land off Bodiam Drive is set to be developed by the council (Photo from Google Maps Street View)
Greenfield land off Bodiam Drive is set to be developed by the council (Photo from Google Maps Street View)

But at Wednesday’s meeting officers advised against this, as the play area’s owners – the housing association Orbit – no longer wanted to keep the site.

Planning services manager Eleanor Evans said: “The difficulty with Watermill Drive is it is not in a good state and it would require quite a bit of money to be brought up to a state that would be acceptable, including requirements in terms of meeting health and safety legislation.

“I understand it could be as much as £50,000 and then on top of that you have to maintain it. However, we know Orbit don’t want to maintain it, so it is not practical or sensible to put money towards it.”   

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Officers advised the money instead go towards improving three council-owned play areas – Beckley Close, Kensington Close and Etchingham Drive.

At the previous meeting, Cllr Barnett had also argued that the development should pay for upgrades to a nearby bus stop on Bodiam Drive.

This was considered during the deferral but was not supported by East Sussex Highways. However, there was some talk of these improvements being funded through another development nearby. 

After hearing the latest information from officers, the committee opted to approve the outline scheme. 

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Cllr Heather Bishop said: “I’m happy to support the proposal. We need housing in the area.

“I appreciate we’ve gone back and had another look to see if the reason for the deferment could be done and I appreciate the efforts of those officers looking into that.

“But pragmatically I am happy to move forward and happy to support.”

Beyond the principle of development, the outline application had only been seeking permission for access to the site via the road leading to the Robsack Children’s Centre on to Bodiam Drive, with all other details to be agreed at a later date.

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All other details – such as final layout of the site – would require further planning permission before significant works can begin. 

This process could result in a greater amount of open space, especially as officers at the January meeting said they had some of their own concerns around the indicative layout of the site. 

They said the layout was considered to be ‘parking heavy; with little outdoor space for residents’. This had been fed back to the council’s designers, officers said, but was not part of the outline application. 

For further information on the proposals see application reference HS/OA/20/00180 on the Hastings Borough Council website.