Decision Due On Hastings Homes

Plans to revise the design of a Hastings housing development are due to go in front of town councillors next week.

On Wednesday (April 23), Hastings Borough Council’s planning committee is due to consider an application connected with proposals to build five homes on land to either side of Church Street.

The application, which has seen opposition from local residents, seeks permission to alter the layout of an already-approved scheme.

The development first secured outline planning permission in 2015, with a detailed design later approved in 2017.

While work began on site in 2019, the development stalled “due to a number of reasons.”

These included the presence of a Southern Water sewer, which made it impossible to build out the houses in the originally planned layout.

The current application, from Dredco Limited, seeks permission to amend the layout, repositioning the proposed houses and a number of parking spaces, as well as removing a shared garage from the site.

These changes are expected to overcome the issues preventing the original proposals from moving forward.

Planning officers say the changes are acceptable and do not change the “overall bulk, scale, design and massing of the dwellings.”

In a report to the committee, a council planning spokesman said:

“An application for a material amendment does not need to address the assessment of the proposed development in its entirety, as the principle of this has already been established by the existing consents.

“As a result, the only matters to consider are whether the amendments proposed will have a material impact on the planning considerations that were assessed in the determination of the existing consents.”

The spokesman added:

“The proposed variations …are considered acceptable and do not detrimentally alter the approved scheme.

"As such, the proposal complies with the Development Plan”.

This view is not shared by objectors, however, who argue the amended proposals will have a negative impact on residents living in Greville Road.

Objectors presented the council with a petition opposing the plans, which has been signed by 23 people.

In addition, the council received two individual letters of objection from two households.

In this correspondence, the objectors have raised concerns about the loss of the green space, the potential impact on wildlife and the potential for loss of privacy, among other matters.

Objectors also disputed whether the proposals had been legally made, pointing to a land ownership certificate submitted by the applicant.

Officers investigated this claim and confirmed the application had been completed correctly.

For further information on the proposals see application reference HS/DS/24/00612 on the Hastings Borough Council website.