Councillors’ bid to halt controversial Eastbourne Aldi plan

On Monday (September 11), Conservative councillors Penny di Cara and Ksharma Shore, announced that they have written to Michael Gove asking him to call in plans to build an Aldi store at Site 7a in Sovereign Harbour — a strip of land between Pacific Drive and Pevensey Bay Road.

The scheme was one of a trio of applications approved by Eastbourne Borough Council’s planning committee last month. Between them, the applications had sought permission for a 66-bed care home, a building containing 57 retirement-living apartments and the Aldi.

All three schemes — and particularly the Aldi proposals — had proven to be controversial among local residents, with more than 700 objections submitted across the separate applications

Cllr di Cara, who was among those who spoke against proposals at the meeting, said: “The planning application has been approved despite it being totally against the approved Local Plan, which specifically ruled out retail use of the site.

“It was surprising that the committee was told, by planning officers, that the sheer weight of opposition was not a material consideration in support of refusal.”

The crux of the councillors’ argument is the scheme should not have been approved as the land had been set aside for ‘employment uses’ within local planning policy.

In a report written at the time, council planning officers said the mix of retail and residential uses would not fit in within this designation and this carried a ‘significant negative weight’ against development. However, officers ultimately recommended approval, saying the benefits of the development would outweigh the downsides.

In making this recommendation, officers noted that no alternative proposals had ever come forward despite an outline consent being in place for more than 10 years.

The councillors say their letter to Mr Gove comes as the Sovereign Harbour Residents Association considers other options to oppose the scheme. It is unclear what form this could take at present.

Cllr Shore said: “Rest assured the residents can be confident of our full support as they explore every avenue against this scheme which has serious health and safety issues for those living in the area.

“The planning committee simply can’t be allowed to ride roughshod over the wishes of the residents like this.

“Our fear is that the planning committee felt that approval was the ‘easy option’ to avoid the fear of Aldi taking the application to appeal and the virtually-bankrupt council being landed with expensive legal costs.”