No support for South Chailey development of 56 homes off the A275

On Wednesday (September 6), Lewes District Council’s planning committee again considered an outline application seeking permission to build up to 56 homes on land to the west of the A275.

The application was identical to one refused by the planning committee in April. At the time, officers had warned that the council’s lack of an up-to-date local plan meant the refusal was unlikely to hold up at appeal.

While such an appeal is currently underway, the applicant, Gladman Developments, had resubmitted the scheme in hopes of gaining local approval.

The timing of the application meant the committee had a very different lineup of councillors, as it came after May’s local elections.

Even so, the resubmission came in for criticism from a number of objectors including Isabelle Linington, the village’s former district councillor.

Mrs Linington said: “Let me start by saying how outrageous it is that this application has been brought back unchanged for a second attempt at approval with a new committee on the promise of the appeal against the initial refusal being withdrawn if approval is granted.”

Objectors raised concerns about the scale of the development, its impact on the character of the community and its potential impact on a nearby grade II listed building.

While officers said these impacts have been weighed and considered acceptable, the committee as a whole was uncomfortable with the scheme going ahead.

Cllr Graham Amy (Lib Dem), was a lone voice in support of the proposals. He said: “I think I voted for it last time. I couldn’t see any logical reasons [to refuse].

“We know about the neighbourhood plan, we know about everything else [and] if I lived in that village and I was a youngster, I would like to think I could aspire to an affordable home in that area.”

Cllr Amy went on to propose approval, but could not find someone to second his proposal.

In light of this officers recommended that the application be deferred instead of refused outright, with the hopes that Gladman would withdraw the scheme and wait for the appeal process to conclude. This course of action was accepted on a majority vote.