183 Dwellings, Stone Cross, Eastbourne

This site formed part of one of the Strategic Development Areas allocated in the council’s Core Strategy, adopted in 2013. Planning permission was originally granted for 82 houses, having regard to the constraints imposed by Wealden District Council on the number of houses in the south of the District, having regard to the capacity of the local waste Water Treatment Works.

Following the grant of planning permission, the council commissioned background evidence gathering in relation to its forthcoming local plan. This demonstrated a significantly greater need for housing than allowed for in the Core Strategy, and resulted in the council being unable to demonstrate the necessary five years’ supply of housing land in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

This created an opportunity to enhance the development potential of the site and we coordinated the preparation and submission of a second planning application, this time for 183 houses on a larger site. In doing so we were able to relocate the access to the site to a more advantageous position.