Gates for Eastbourne housing development turned down by planning inspector

In a decision notice published earlier this month, a planning inspector has dismissed proposals to add entrance gates to Wateringbury Way — a 51-home development at the former Woods Cottages site in Swanley Close.

The entrance gates — to be made up of an automatic gate for vehicles and an adjoining pedestrian access gate — were part of developer Park Lane Homes’ original plans for the site, but had been removed before the proposals came to Eastbourne Borough Council’s planning committee.

The gating proposals then returned through a separate application, but were refused by council planning officers in 2022, due to concerns about the “detriment of community interaction and cohesion”.

Ultimately, the planning inspector reached the same conclusion as Eastbourne Borough Council planners.

In their decision notice, published on March 17, the inspector said: “The proposed entrance gates would unacceptably segregate the housing development from its wider area, restricting opportunities for contact between people.

“Therefore, the proposed development would significantly harm social interaction and cohesion.”

The application for the houses was initially approved at a planning committee meeting in August 2021. This scheme was for 49 houses, with two houses being added through a later application.

These applications had followed on from previous proposals (from a separate developer) to build 35 homes on the same site. Unlike the final scheme, the 35-home application had included on-site affordable housing.

The proposals had proven to be controversial throughout these iterations, with local residents having raised a wide range of concerns including flooding, ecological impact and traffic pressure.