Hailsham bungalows in garden of a home in The Drive refused planning permission

On Thursday (November 3), Wealden District Council’s Planning Committee South considered an application seeking permission to build two new bungalows on land to the rear of a property known as 1 The Drive.

While it had been recommended for approval, most committee members felt the scheme would be a ‘cramped’ overdevelopment of the site and opted to refuse the application.

Proposing refusal, the committee’s deputy chairman Angela Snell said: “I’m not happy with this at all; in fact I am edging towards going for refusal.

“I am thoroughly in support of the town council’s objections. I think it is cramped. I think it is overdevelopment.”

Cllr Snell, along with several other committee members, went on to raise concerns about the site’s road access, saying it could hinder highway safety.

Ultimately, however, this did not form part of the reasons for refusal as no objections had been raised by East Sussex Highways to support this view.

Officers had recommended approval. Their report said: “There is some backland development in the immediate vicinity. The layout of the bungalows within the site has been adjusted in the course of the application and the adjustment is sympathetic with the pattern of buildings and architectural rhythm in the surrounding. The single-storey form of the dwellings repeats the scale of the existing dwelling that fronts the site, and being in the garden area associated with No1, the proposed respecting the existing dwelling’s character.

“The scale and massing of the proposed would change the outlook at neighbouring dwellings, but not to an unacceptable degree. There is potential that an existing tree may face increased pressure for further pruning, or even removal due to the proximity of one of the dwellings, but the modest contribution the trees has in the overall character of the area is not significant enough to weigh against the proposal.”

But following further discussion, the application was refused on a vote of nine to three.

Planning committee chairman Susan Stedman (who had called in the scheme for discussion) said: “One bungalow might be just about alright, but the two, in our view, is going to result in a cramped overdeveloped site.”