On Thursday (December 4), Wealden District Council’s Majors Planning Committee approved a reserved matters application from Coldthorn Ltd, which is connected with plans to build 32 homes on land to the west of Coldthorn Lane.
The wider development had secured outline planning permission at appeal in 2023, when an inspector overturned the council’s intiation decision to refuse the scheme. This refusal had been based on concerns around impact on character and appearance of the area and the sustainability of the site.
With the principle of development established through the appeal decision, the committee was only being asked to approve the scheme’s access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale. These elements were all considered acceptable by officers and had been recommended for approval.
Even so, the committee’s discussion focused on a number concerns connected with the outline planning permission, including the scheme’s potential impact on sewerage and highways infrastructure.
Cllr Neil Cleaver (Con) was among those to raise these points, arguing the Coldthorn Lane plans (and development in the area more generally) had been approved on the basis there would be improvements made to Hailsham’s highway infrastructure.
He raised concerns about the progress of long-awaited improvements for the Ersham Roundabout and said the application should be deferred until council officers secured confirmation from East Sussex County Council that this project would be ‘fully funded’.
This proposal was put forward as a motion by Cllr Cleaver, seconded by Cllr Mike Gadd (Ind).
But the committee’s chairman Gareth Owen-Williams (Lib Dem) said this would likely not be an appropriate course of action to take, as highways and other infrastructure matters were not part of the application being considered.
Cllr Cleaver said: “We were told on Planning Committee South, at the time, that [for] all these developments in the south, we would have an upgrade of that roundabout and still we are here sitting.
“Labour at the moment are build baby build, but we are still waiting on Boship Roundabout, the MRN [Major Road Network] bid. Hailsham has had enough.”
Cllr Owen-Williams replied: “We are in agreement on many philosophical points today, but at the end of the day we are here to make a decision within legal parameters and that is what we have to do.
“I think this is a really good forum and a really good environment to make limited comments about the decisions we have to make. But at the end of the day, we are here to make a decision on a particular application and I don’t see that as part of it.”
This argument was supported by officers, who said such a deferral would likely result in a further appeal.
Stacey Robins, the council’s head of planning and environmental services, said: “If we defer it is likely that you will force the developer into a non-determination appeal situation and an inspector is not going to be interested in that issue, because it was considered by their colleague in relation to the outline application.”
Mr Robins went on to say that a delay could also result in the council losing the ability to collect Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts tied to the development, which would go into the pot of money which could be used to fund the actual road works.
He also committed to write to East Sussex County Council for an update on the highways improvement works.
The application was considered to be acceptable by the committee as a whole and approved in line with the officer recommendation.
The application itself proposes 12 one-bedroom flats, five two-bedroom houses, 13 three-bedroom houses and two four-bedroom houses.
For further information see application reference WD/2025/0653/MRM on the Wealden District Council website.
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