A mystery surrounding the proposed development application of the Beach Tavern site was solved in part today (April 4) with the news from Wealden Council that the application ‘has been put on hold’.—Bay Life, 4 April 2017
The explanation for the decision is linked to the new Wealden Local Development plan, a 500 page report, which was published on 24 March. The plan provides strategic direction and local policies right down to proposals for local market towns and villages in the area.
The results of the monitoring that have taken place in the Ashdown Forest regarding nitrogen deposition from vehicles and other sources has shown that the amount of nitrogen deposition is already exceeding levels that can cause ecological damage.
Speaking to Bay LIfe today (April 4) on behalf of Wealden Council, a spokeswoman said that there is a great deal of new information that has become available to the Council with regard to nitrogen deposition and that the new information about vehicle usage in relation to the development of the Beach Tavern site will all now have to be taken into consideration.
The spokeswoman explained that they had “written to all the agents involved in the planning process with regard to the Beach Tavern site to inform them that a decision could not be made with regard to the development”.
The mystery began on March 3 with the cancellation of a planning meeting at which a decision was to have been made with regard to the Beach Tavern site. The meeting was moved to March 29, the community waited with baited breath to see what decision the Council would make, only to find that the application with regard to the Beach Tavern site was not included in the agenda.
The fact that the Wealden Local Plan published on 24 March had a significant bearing on the question of the development has now become obvious.
There is now no planning meeting until May.
The question of whether the developers Foss Holdings, the owners of the Beach Tavern site, will now withdraw the application, given the new climate of opinion with regard to these kinds of development remains to be seen.
The spokeswoman, when asked if people could continue to object to the application in the circumstances explained that “people could continue to object”.
As things stand, given the cogent, broad range of many objections that have been lodged with Wealden Council over the proposed development, and the number of objections lodged in a petition on change,org which numbers nearly 400, there is now an open question about whether the proposal will be scrapped, which will take the owners back to the drawing board.
With so many opinions (almost all negative about the proposal), including bodies like East Sussex County Council Highways, Pevensey Parish Council, as well as many other interested parties, and the weight of opinion expressed by residents, there now seems a possibility that the outcome will be to leave the application hanging in the air like a giant piece of flotsam.
By going back to the drawing board, owners, Foss Holdings might like to consider what the community has said, consider the character of the community, the people who live here and the fact that to proceed with an application for such a three storey monstrosity was something of a shock to everyone that saw the plans.
Clearly the building can not be left to rot in front of the community to become an eyesore and the owners Foss Holdings will now have to decide what they will do next.
Perhaps a new starting point, if the plans are to be put back on the drawing board, will be to listen to what local people are saying.
One informed resident said to Bay LIfe today on hearing the news that the proposed application was on hold, “this was just bloody greed, that is what it was”.
Whether we will now see a scaled down proposal with a house built in the site, or a refurbishment of the character building that is of historic note and has been in service to the community since 1906 remains to be seen.
As things stand, the likelihood of the proposed development going ahead seems to be receding.
Bay LIfe looked at the design statement put forward by the architect of the project here.
At the time we criticised the document as lacking in both fact and context.
We suggested that “in every sense this proposed building would dominate, supercede and alter the essential character of Pevensey Bay and the heart of business here in this location. There is no relationship between this proposed building and Pevensey Bay”.
On a lighter note we added, “It is intended that the proposed design will fit into the locality by picking up the colour of beach huts. The excitement with which the architect adds this bold flair to his proposal has been questioned by residents. As they point out, somewhat puzzled, there are no beach huts in Pevensey Bay”.
Sussex Won’t be Druv. A little fishing village with a developer problem.
What is interesting about the situation is that the collective voice of stakeholders and residents, given the new situation with the Wealden Local Plan, is bringing into sharp relief their thoughts and views.
Simon Montgomery
Editor, Bay Life
