The petition
In August 2006,Mid Sussex District Council refused an application from Ockenden Manor to development their hotel facilities in the historic village of Cuckfield.
In their report to the Planning Committee, the council refused the proposals because:
* The development is outside the built-up boundary, contrary to Policies C1, R15 and Local Plan Policies LOC2 and NE11
* By virtue of its size and scale, the proposals would result in consolidation and urbanisation of the built form of the site, contrary to policies C1, R15, B1 and Local Plan Policies LOC2, NE11 and CH1
* Due to the proposed increased traffic level in Ockenden Lane, residents would experience an unacceptable level of disturbance detrimental to their residential amenities, contrary to Policies B3, T4 and Local Plan Policies DEV1, DEV4
Ockenden Manor have subsequently appealed to the Secretary of State against this decision and a Public Inquiry is pending.
Along with many others we contend that the new applications, submitted in November 2007,is substantially the same as the earlier application, which was refused. In particular:
* The proposed development remains wholly outside the designated built-up area boundary and is thus in contravention of local and national policies as above.
* The scale of the proposed new development (1,771sqm), whilst somewhat smaller than before nonetheless involves a more than doubling of the hotels existing footprint of 1,755sqm.
* The applicant’s objective to attract 500 new spa members remains unchanged. This will create unmanageable traffic and car parking consequences for the historic Conservation Area of Cuckfield village centre.
* Access to and from the development remains via Ockenden Lane, whose narrow width is unsuitable even for current traffic and whose entry points are in the High Street and South Street- both of which themselves have traffic difficulties.
* The increase to traffic flows in the village centre and, in particular Ockenden Lane will be significant and noticeable to the residents creating a detrimental impact on their residential amenity. The increased volume of customer traffic and service traffic would be unacceptable.
* Cars and listed buildings regularly suffer damage from current traffic and whilst these may not always be reported to the local Police, they are nonetheless a regular occurrence in the lane.
* In turn, the increased traffic will increase the risk of pedestrian injury to all those people who regularly access the Worsley Recreation Grounds via Ockenden Lane.
* The applicant argument of financial need, whilst not a valid planning consideration is considerably undermined by the absence of financial and market data to support their contention and also by their own recent statement (signed by the Company’s Directors in September 2007 in their latest Report and Accounts) that:
“Both the level of business and the period end financial position were satisfactory, and the directors are confident that the present level of activity will be sustained for the foreseeable future”
No one would argue against the fact that Ockenden Manor has a central role to play in the community of Cuckfield. However, their proposals continue far to exceed what might be considered appropriate to their location and setting.
Permission of any such development outside the built-up area would also set a fearful precedent.
Accordingly we, the undersigned, respectfully urge MSDC to reject these proposals, for the same valid and compelling reasons as those cited in August 2006.
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