Page 272 - MJC submissions

9 Ashbourne House
Lewes Road
Ashurst Wood
East Grinstead
West Sussex RH19 3TB
Page | 1

14 February 2019
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Dear Mr King and others,
FOR THE RECORD: Application DM18/1548 and DM16/2845
I have read the recent website correspondence from which it appears that Mid Sussex District
Council (MSDC) persists in being less than consistent or candid with both Ashgrove Homes
Ltd (AHL) and objectors to the proposed application for development of the Wealden House
EDF site (DM18/1548 and DM16/2845) and the stayed project for the Life Improvement
Centre (LIC) site.

For example,

• On 6 February 2019 at 12.21, Mr Darren Page, representing AHL, emailed Mr Steven
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King, Planning Application Team Leader, stating “we finally obtained Will Dorman’s 1
approval to our proposals and therefore we were somewhat surprised that that your
letter remained non-committal”

• On 11 February 2019, Mr Steven King, responded, stating that he “could not commit
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to providing a positive recommendation on the scheme at this stage” and that “if the
application is recommended for approval it will need to be determined by the
Planning Committee. As such the final decision will not be mine to take ”.
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I can understand AHL’s frustration with such mixed messages, but the current problems are (a)
partly of its own making by being less that forthcoming with its overall plans for Wealden
House and (b) failure by AWVC and MSDC to correct the intended density of the EDF site
and the planning status of the LIC site.
I have applied under the Freedom of Information Act for clarification of Mr Dorman’s job
description , his authority to give “approval” and any efforts made to correct the Ashurst
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Wood Neighbourhood Plan (AWNP). I await a response before taking further action.

1 Mr Dorman is MSDC’s Urban Planning specialist.
2 He did not deny that Mr Dorman had given his “approval”
3 And what relevance urban planning has to the proposed rural development