Harrow Lane Building Plans Rejected
On 28th April Hastings Borough Council planning committee narrowly rejected, by five votes to four, an application for permission to build 67 housing units on land at the corner of Harrow Lane and the Ridge. The site under consideration, a rectangular greenfield area of 1.86 hectares (4.6 acres), already had approval for 50 dwellings granted in May 2019, and adjoins other sites already in the pipeline for development at Holmhurst St Mary (208 units) and Harrow Lane Playing Fields (140 units). The issue before the committee was therefore in respect of housing density and development design only.
The 67 dwellings proposed by the developers Park Lane Homes Limited comprised two one-bed flats, two two-bed flats, 37 two-bed houses (nine with home offices), 13 three-bed houses, and 13 four-bed houses. Of these, a total of 26 in a mix of housing types and sizes would have been classed as ‘affordable’ housing units, compared to 15 out of 50 under the original permission.
HBC’s principal planning officer Ms T. Zulu had prepared a report recommending approval. She acknowledged that the scheme to increase dwelling numbers seemed to site them in some cases “close to each other”. However she advised that, “in such instances the applicant has sensitively designed the dwellings such that where there is such a relationship and if openings are proposed at side elevation of the dwellings, the
first floor and second floor side elevation windows are proposed to serve non-habitable rooms such as a bathroom and or landing window. Such a relationship is acceptable in this respect and any harm caused to these windows is not considered to be harmful.”
Party division
In a lively debate the committee divided largely on party lines, with four Labour councillors, Heather Bishop, Ruby Cox, Margi O’Callaghan and chair Alan Roberts, favouring acceptance of the development scheme in accordance with the planning officer’s recommendation, whereas four Conservative councillors, Matthew Beaver, Mike Edwards, Paul Foster and Sorrell Marlow-Eastwood argued against it. Concerns expressed by the latter group included loss of green space, flood risk and the effect on the already heavily congested road network around the Ridge, which has yet to accommodate the extra traffic that will also be generated from the other housing developments in the area, including the shift to residential use of nearby Ashdown House.
Cllr Marlow-Eastwood told the committee: “It’s all well and good putting in a traffic plan, but considering many of these are two-bedroom houses, we’re probably talking about couples, which will mean two cars everywhere. People don’t take buses from that area—it’s not great to get about and the hills stop people walking and cycling… Seventeen new houses is not a throw-away number, that’s potentially an extra 34 cars. It makes a huge difference to people’s lives in that area.”
The ninth member of the committee, Cllr Warren Davies (Labour) broke party ranks and sided with the group opposing the scheme. He seconded Cllr Beaver’s motion to reject it on grounds of “overdevelopment” that would create “a form of development out of keeping with the character and appearance of the area”. This motion was carried by five votes to four.
An interesting late twist: three of the committee’s Labour party councillors, Cllrs Cox, O’Callaghan and Davies, were all defeated in last Thursday’s borough council elections. The party will need to appoint replacement members accordingly.
Correction 28th May 2021
Cllr James Bacon, Labour councillor for Old Hastings (and now newly elected Mayor), was among the five members of the planning committee who voted to oppose the planning scheme being applied for. Cllr Mike Edwards argued against it as councillor for Ashdown ward, but he was not a member of the committee and did not vote.
Cllr Ruby Cox was defeated in the recent county council election for the ward of Old Hastings and Tressell but remains councillor on Hastings Borough Council for Central St Leonards (and is newly elected Deputy Mayor).
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