Detailed plans submitted for 60 homes at Sandpits
Detailed plans have been submitted for a development of 60 homes in Lewes Road, Ridgewood, following the demolition of Sandpits and its outbuildings. The application from Rydon Homes was received complete by Wealden on December 12, 2007. Outline approval for development of the site has previously been given by the council. WD/2007/0769 (Added to site Friday, December 21, 2007)

Opposition to affordable housing scheme
Uckfield Town councillors are opposing plans for an affordable housing development of two houses and four flats in Lealands Drive.
At a meeting of their plans committee on Monday (December 17) members said configuration of the site was out of character to the street scene, especially because of its levels.
A resident told them neighbouring properties would be over-shadowed and overlooked and a better use of the site would be for car parking and re-cycling facilities.
Another plan for affordable housing in Campbell Close, for two semi-detached houses was supported by councillors.
Both recommendations will be forwarded to Wealden Council. (Added to site Thursday, December 20, 2007)


Protest over size of grant
Wealden Council is calling on the district’s four MPs to protest at the size of a Government grant received towards provision of essential services.
Wealden receives the lowest Revenue Support Grant of any authority in East Sussex and has been given the ninth lowest out of the country’s 238 district councils, according to Cllr Bob Standley, cabinet member for finance and assets.
He asks why Wealden residents are to get only £54 a head of Government support while £105 is allocated in Eastbourne and £115 in Hastings. (Added to site Tuesday, December 18, 2007)


Proposals for affordable housing
A housing association has applied for planning permission to build affordable homes on two Wealden Council-owned pieces of land in Campbell Close and Lealands Drive, Uckfield.
The Raglan Housing Association would like two build two three-bedroom semi-detached houses with four parking spaces in Campbell Close and two three-bedroom houses and four two-bedroom flats with eight parking spaces at Lealands Drive. (Added to site Monday, December 17, 2007)


Hotel rooms could be provided in houses
Hotel rooms could be provided in houses next to the Just So Bar at the top of Uckfield High Street.
The Chapman Group has applied for planning permission to change the use of Mermaid Cottage, Church Street, and The Tab at the Maidens Head Hotel to hotel rooms. WD/2007/3584 (Added to site Friday, December 14, 2007)


Plans to build school nursery
Plans have been drawn up to build a nursery at Manor Primary School in Downsview Crescent, Uckfield. The town council is due to consider the proposal, at a plans committee meeting on Monday (17th) for a new single storey pitched roof, timber framed and brick clad building at the school. (Added to site Thursday, December 13, 2007)


Six houses approved at Ridgewood
Revised plans to build six homes on land north of Ridgewood Industrial Estate in Uckfield have been approved by Wealden Council. The scheme includes two one-bedroom houses and four with three bedrooms. WD/2007/3286 (Added to site Wednesday, December 12, 2007)



Proposals for new home at Ridgewood Rise
Proposals to build a new 48-bed residential home on the site of Ridgewood Rise home in Highview Lane, Uckfield, are being advertised by East Sussex County Council.
The plans have been submitted following a decision to close the existing old people’s home. They include provision of consulting rooms and a refreshment centre.
Three similar ‘Age Well’ homes, as they have been dubbed, have outline permission at Harvard Road in Ringmer, at Moorhurst, Westfield, and at The Ridge, Hastings. (Added to site Tuesday, December 11, 2007)



Scheme for office units in former school building
Old stables formerly used as part of Temple Grove School at Herons Ghyll could be converted to six office units if plans before Wealden Council are approved.
Portcullis Land and Property says in planning documents that they would like to form three new entrances in the listed building using existing window openings and enlarging as necessary.
They say their intentions are to keep alterations to the existing fabric to a minimum. WD/2007/3449 (Added to site Monday, December 10, 2007)


Questions asked in Commons about rail link
Questions were asked in the House of Commons this week about re-opening the rail link between Uckfield and Lewes.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Mr Tom Harris, said he remained willing to consider any re-opening proposal that was supported by a proper business case and could be funded privately.
Mr Harris also acknowledged, following a question from Wealden MP Charles Hendry, the growing problem with car parking at Uckfield due to the popularity of the rail service.
He said this was complicated by the fact that existing land owned by the British Rail Board (Residuary) had been tied up in a five-year development plan of which only one year had elapsed.
‘However, if the council is willing to re-examine a policy that, I understand, restricts access by cars to any feasible car park on the site from the High Street it may be possible to find a way of making progress on this important issue.’
A meeting is due to be held on Monday to continue looking into ways of opening a temporary car park at Uckfield Rail Station.
People invited include representatives of town, district and county councils, police and rail organisations who attended a previous meeting in August where a working group was formed to look at the issues. (Added to site Thursday, December 6, 2007)



Increase in traffic to composting site opposed
Proposals which would allow a doubling of vehicle visits to a composting site at Isfield are being opposed by Wealden Council.
East Sussex County Council will make the final decision on whether to allow up to 50 visits to the KPS site at Boathouse Farm, Lewes Road, by eight-wheeler lorries and refuse collection-type vehicles and up to 40 visits by pick-up and van-type vehicles.(Added to site Wednesday, December 5, 2007)



Concern about Manor Park footpaths
Manor Park footpaths are to be discussed by Uckfield town councillors at a meeting tonight following complaints about safety hazards and queries about repairs.
Cllr Alan Whittaker says in a report to the environment committee that there is no easy solution partly because of fragmented ownership but he recommends that North Ward councillors hold an exploratory meeting with representatives of the county and district councils and the police. (Added to site Monday, December 3, 2007)



Bus family asks to stay in wood
A family living in a double decker bus on woodland at Blackboys is seeking planning permission to stay there for a further three years.
Temporary permission was given, following a planning appeal heard by a Government inspector, for two buses on the site for a period of three years but now only one remains because the owners of the other have moved on.
Christie Flynn and Ines Bolumburu are asking for further temporary permission to carry on living in the other. They are also hoping for temporary permission to keep a storage container there and for permanent permission for a pole barn.
Earlier this year the couple were refused permission to build a timber house on the land. WD/2007/3370 (Added to site Friday, November 30, 2007)



Plans for new buildings at Bluebell Railway
Plans have been submitted for new platform buildings, including an interpretation centre, and a new carriage shed to house 16 carriages at the Bluebell Railway, Sheffield Park Station. Documents before Wealden Council say this is part of an on-going project to get the railway’s fleet of historic locomotives and carriages under cover and provide protection from the elements. WD/2007/8015. (Added to site Thursday, November 29, 2007)


College principal to retire
The principal of Uckfield Community Technology College is to retire at the end of the summer term.
Craig Pamphilon has worked at the college for 21 years, with just under half that time as principal. He says in a letter to parents and carers that a new principal will be faced by a college that has, in every respect, the capacity to retain its position as ‘one of the best’, ‘outstanding’.
The governors will begin the process of finding his replacement with the aim of interviewing candidates early in 2008. (Added to site Wednesday, November 28, 2007)



New plans for development of convent site
New plans have been drawn up for the proposed development of the site of St Michael’s Convent next door to the Catholic church in New Town, Uckfield.
They are on display in the church and a public meeting is due to be held there to explain them on Thursday, December 13, at 7pm. (Added to site Tuesday, November 27, 2007)


Wilderness Wood visitor centre extension approved
Permission has been given retrospectively for a barn used as an information centre and tearoom at Wilderness Wood, Hadlow Down, to be extended.
Documents accompanying the application said the extension was needed to increase the seating area both for refreshments and as a shelter in poor weather. The kitchen was also extended to provide a safe working environment, food preparation area and storage and work has been approved. (Added to site Thursday, November 22)


Council could demand more affordable housing
Wealden Council could demand a higher percentage of affordable housing to be built within the district in the future.
Currently it seeks 30 per cent but it has been looking at an approach followed in North Devon where any single plot coming forward has to be for local need only and on sites capable of accommodating more than one home at least 50 per cent of houses are required to be affordable.
Wealden is reviewing its policy as it draws up a Local Development Framework and the council’s head of planning policy David Phillips says in a bulletin that within the north of the district, and especially within villages, a higher percentage of affordable units might be achieved. (Added to site Tuesday, November 20, 2007)



Gleeson withdraws call for judicial review
Gleeson Homes has withdrawn its request for a judicial review into two planning decisions made by Wealden Council.
The council has been informed that the developer is not pursuing its challenge of decisions allowing development at Sandpits, off Lewes Road, Uckfield, and land off Eastbourne Road in the town.
Gleeson was refused permission to build 750 homes at Downlands Farm, Uckfield, and has appealed against that decision. That appeal is due to be considered at a planning inquiry in January along with two other appeals to build at Bird-in-Eye north and Bird-in-Eye south. (Added to site Thursday, November 15, 2007)


Church bells to fall silent
Church bells will fall silent in Buxted shortly after midnight on New Years Day and a week later are to be removed for restoration. The eight bells from St Margaret’s Church will be returned to the tower in April. More (Added to site Wednesday, November 14, 2007)


Revised plans for Isfield Camp
Revised plans have been submitted to build 31 homes, six live/work units and a business unit at a former military camp in Station Road, Isfield.
An earlier similar application from Millwood Designer Homes proposed 28 homes on the site which was allocated for development in the Non-Staturoty Wealden Local Plan 2005.
Planning documents submitted to Wealden show that 11 of the 31 homes would be affordable and say the development could be the first of this type in the district to be carbon neutral. (Added to site Tuesday, November 13, 2007)



Phone mast appeal dismissed
A planning appeal against refusal of permission to build a mobile telecommunications base station in Nutley has been dismissed.
The proposal was to build a 21 metre high fake scots pine tree mast and install associated development in a fenced compound on land at Tyelands Farm, Chelwood Gate Road but the appeal was dismissed on November 2, 2007. (Added to site Friday, November 9, 2007)

Councillors reaffirm opposition to developments
Uckfield town councillors reaffirmed their opposition to housing development at Bird-in-Eye and Downlands Farm at an extra meeting on Monday.
The meeting was called to consider a response to a joint planning inquiry due to take place in January and councillors agreed to reiterate previous objections to plans which were refused by Wealden Council for 300 homes at Bird-in-Eye North, 197 homes at Bird-in-Eye South and 750 homes at Downlands Farm. (Added to site Thursday, November 8, 2007)

New settlement options narrowed down by Wealden
It has been proposed that Wealden Council discount all new settlement options other than those in the Lower Dicker and Golden Cross area and Berwick following a public consultation exercise about issues and options to be taken into account for future development in the district.
This decision to make the proposal was one of several made by planning and development portfolio holder Cllr K.J. Whitehead following consultation with the cabinet local development framework sub-committee.
More detail about the decisions can be seen in reports accompanying an agenda for the council’s environment scrutiny committee which is due to meet on Tuesday (November 13) and re-consider consultation responses following a request by some councillors. (Added to site Wednesday, November 7, 2007)


Developer builds new homes for reptiles and bees
Developer Rydon Homes is building new homes for reptiles and bumblebees as well as people as they start work at the bottom of Sunnybrooke Close in Uckfield.
What these creatures will like best, according to an ecologist’s report which accompanied a planning application, is a collapsed wall which will also attract snails, beetles, small mammals and anything that preys on them like badgers and birds.
The two new homes being built for people have attracted special attention with a Wealden officer describing the design approach as ‘unique’.
A report recommending approval of the planning applications said: ‘It is considered this site, within the development boundary, does offer an opportunity for a fresh innovative approach which will provoke thought and interest in design and materials without compromising any special designations or the quality of the wider countryside.’ (Added to site Monday, November 5, 2007) More