Homes scheme for Tilling Green in Rye completely withdrawn

AmicusHorizon was planning to create a cul-de-sac style development featuring 32 homes for rent and shared ownership, as well as a community centre.

It withdrew the plans in April, which had been submitted to Rother District Council, amid concerns from residents about flooding risks.

AmicusHorizon said it worked closely with the Environment Agency so it could produce a strategy to design out and mitigate the risk of flooding.

However, in order to reduce the flood risk after new guidance from the Environment Agency, the housing provider was forced to raise the floors of the proposed units adding substantial extra cost to the development.

In April it said it was still keen to deliver a scheme for the area.

But today (Friday, July 29), AmicusHorizon announced it will not be submitting a further planning application and confirmed it will no longer be proceeding with its proposal to build on this site.

A lack of additional grant funding to cover the cost of the centre and secure the land left AmicusHorizon with little option but to completely withdraw, the housing provider said.

AmicusHorizon had been working with Rye Partnership, which currently runs the existing community centre, to deliver the plans and East Sussex County Council (ESCC), the current landowners.

The county council is now considering the future use of the site and will be working with Rother District Council and Rye Partnership on the development of plans and next steps.

Neill Tickle, development director (counties) at AmicusHorizon, said: “We’re extremely disappointed we had to make this decision, but delivering the high quality scheme we planned just didn’t make economic sense.

“We tried our very best to find a solution. We desperately wanted to deliver a scheme the community would be proud of and which fitted into the existing environment.

“But it was simply not viable to continue when you compare the considerable extra build cost today to the cost estimated two years ago.

“We have informed the county council and Rye Partnership of our decision. We remain committed to working with them in the future to deliver excellent housing for local people.”

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