Town prepares to fight Rother on housing sites

At Tuesday's Battle Town Council meeting, councillors noted with concern the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment recently produced by Rother District Council.

Although it is not yeta statement of the district council policy, the assessment gives a clear indication of where the spotlight is focussing in terms of future sites for housing development.

Ron Harris, chairman of the Battle Town Council Planning Committee, said: "When we were initially consulted 18 months ago we made it perfectly clear that, in our view, the infrastructure of the town is already under such pressure that yet more development could effectively strangle the town.

"We have yet to feel the possible impact of the Blackfriars development and now it is highly likely that we will be asked to absorb even more."

He went on to remind the council meeting that the argument about developing the Blackfriars site was not lost when the planning application was made recently, but when the site was first designated for housing more than 25 years ago.

He said: "We must not allow the failure of our predecessors in that case to be repeated.

"Later in the year we will be formally consulted about the designation of new sites for development and we must ensure that our arguments and concerns are forcefully pressed and fully considered. If needs be, we will have to consider engaging professional advice to assist us in putting our case to the Planning Inquiry which will be held."

Apart from the basic fear about the effect of yet more houses, the council is particularly unhappy that the choice of a large site leading off Glengorse would be completely contrary to the well established policy to protect what is known as the strategic gap between Battle and Hastings.

Cllr Harris added: "Undermining this policy will make it much more difficult to resist similar proposals for development all along the south side of the Hastings Road."