Second appeal approved for Hailsham homes

In a decision notice published on Thursday (March 30), a planning inspector has allowed appeals connected to two applications from TA Homes Ltd to build housing on land off of Coldthorn Lane.

One application (Appeal B) sought outline permission to build up to 32 houses on the land surrounding a property known as Coldthorn Barn, while the other (Appeal A) sought full planning permission to build three houses on a subsection of this wider site.

Both schemes had previously been approved as part of an appeal decision in April last year, but those decisions were quashed due to uncertainty surrounding the status and protections of a nearby woodland.

While this issue, which revolved around whether the woods could be classed as ‘ancient’, saw the previous appeal decisions quashed, it did not prevent planning permission being granted following a fresh process.

As a result, the developer once again has full planning permission for the three house scheme and outline planning permission for the 32-house scheme.

Both schemes had been separately refused by Wealden District Council planning officers in 2020 on the grounds they would harm the character and appearance of the area and be in an unsustainable location.

Both proposals would have the same access point off of Coldthorn Lane.

For further details on the proposals see planning applications WD/2020/0894/F and WD/2020/1504/MAO on the Wealden District Council website.