WD/2015/0090/MAO - ESCC HIGHWAYS SCANDAL
WD/2015/0090/ HERSTMONCEUX VILLAGE CONDITIONS A - Z INDEX
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What visibility splay? Have East Sussex County Council gone mad. The hedge on the left prevents any car coming from the proposed site entrance, from seeing to the right. From this one easily obtained picture it is obvious that the approval of this entrance for up to 70 dwellings is a rubber stamp job by ESCC Highways. The proposed new entrance is cluttered, so introducing a dangerous situation that could affect hundreds of travelers on the A271. Drivers coming from Windmill Hill will see the nose of a vehicle and may be forced to brake hard, when the driver seeking to exit Lime Cross, is forced to put the nose of his vehicle in the path of oncoming traffic. Approval of this application without any real investigation of the facts smells to high heaven. Who is scratching who's back and why? This was formerly application WD/2014/2663/MAO.
2017 - 2018 LATEST
Gleeson Developments Limited appear to have sold their interest in the land to Latimer Developments Limited, This rather dubious planning consent is being developed with the Clarion Housing Group Limited, who in turn have included Thakekam Homes Limited as partners or agents to the project. It is yet to be confirmed just who is doing what and when and we look forward to receiving further information. The case officer is Claire Turner. The permission was signed off by Kelvin Williams, now due to retire in 2019 with Christopher Bending taking over as Head of Planning and Environmental services in 2018.
DRAINAGE ISSUE - We've never seen a site with so many trenches dug and boreholes sunk. The developers are proposing locating houses on the top of a hill leading down to an ancient well that has been in use for over 115 years in its present capacity of providing drinking water to the locality. Are they mad? These property (or those who drew up the original proposals) magnates appear to have let the lure of profits go to their heads. Water flows downhill chaps. This is a basic rule of physics that no amount of smoke and mirrors can get around. Then there is the fact that water is the most powerful solvent known to man. In other words, any chemicals that comes from gardens or other DIY concerning property in this location, will be dissolved and will leach into the ancient well, potentially poisoning those who use that facility.
HMMMM - Yes, it's another hole and just above the Museum, in line with the water flow. We wonder what the shareholders and other investors will make of it when they discover in years to come that the developer(s) knew what they were doing would be bound to cause issues in the future. Wealden have a duty to protect the historic environment, a duty that have failed to stand by in years gone by, spending enormous sums of public money trying to hide the truth of the Generating Works complex. In another landmark drainage case they tried to prove that water flowed uphill. And in yet another case, they tried to tell two High Court judges that they could deprive a member of the public of the right to toilet facilities. See our Potty Training article if you fancy a laugh.
Through 2017 to April 2018, and again in June of 2018, the new owners of the site have been digging trenches all over the field, filling them with water and watching the water levels for absorption rates. Rather disturbingly, there is a rumor about a proposal not to provide proper drainage as required by the Conditions attaching to the proposed 70 house development.
As yet there have been no proposals to prevent the seepage of household chemicals and herbicides, an example of which is Roundup, from reaching the ancient well that feeds water to a number of concerns in the vicinity, and is considered to be a historic asset of some note. Not to mention the bottling opportunity that this well represents by way of a utility, as a means to generate funds to help with the maintenance costs attaching to Herstmonceux Museum.
Even more of a worry is that from a recent telephone conversation between a planning consultant working for the Herstmonceux Museum Limited, the current case officer (as at 2 July 2018) appears not to know of the duty that her Council owes to the historic environment. Even where this is clearly set out in the National Planning Policy Framework document dating from 2012.
This is the view from the proposed field exit. As you might agree a driver seeking to pull onto the A271 would not be able to see past the hedge to his or her right. You can just see the 30mph speed signs on the right above the hedge, hence the closeness of the speed sign island to the suggested site entrance.
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