Page 5 - All files for Planning Inspectorate update

Apartment 5 Carlton House, Lewes Road, Ashurst Wood,
West Sussex RH19 3TB Tel 01342 327516

1 April 2019
Dear Sir
Re: EDF site Planning Application DM/19/1025 of the 13 March 2019

I am writing to register my objection to the latest proposed development of the EDF Site on
the A22 adjacent to Ashurstwood.

It is pleasing to see that the latest proposal has been reduced from 71 units to 54 and it is
very obvious that the developer has made some effort to address many of the concerns and
issues raised during the previous process. However these were aesthetic correcti ons which I
won restate, but the fundamental complaint remains unchanged.

The developer is relying on the concept of flats i n an urban style placed on a rural site . This
is totally inappropriate and totally unnecessary. Here at Ashbourne Park we have

apartments 14 of them accommodated in a style that is in keeping with its environment,

a fact that i s already well known. Yet the developer persists with a design that is essentially
urban. So, my first objection concerns the design. The cubist blocks should be replaced by
something more in keeping with the Sussex rural countryside which surrounds us here .
This may be technically a brown field site and the onetime home to an industrial unit, but
this presents a marvellous opportunity to sweep that hideousness aside and replace it with
something more gentle and pleasing to the eye in a sylvan setting. The fact that it cannot
be seen from the A22 is irrelevant, as many of our county gems are hidden from view.

One of the first artist impressions that we saw featuring the site envisaged normal cottage
style houses, and a site as large as the EDF site c ould accommodate a good number
especially if it embraced the entire site as an integrated development.

Therefore, you wou ld correctly surmise that I am not against development in principle. On
the contrary, I welcome it as an opportunity to create something that will give pleasure to
those who live in it and around it. Somewhere we would all like to come home to. The effect
on our psychological state , drawn from the ambience of our domestic surrounding s, cannot
be overstated and it is very obvious that this developer does not aspire to this empathy even
if he understands it, which on the evidence of the previous plan is very doubtful. We also
cannot ignore the fact that whatever is decided now will b e with us for the next 50 years or
more , whilst the developer will walk away in 2 to 3 years time and think no more of it.

This brings me to my next point which concerns the car parking that goes with the
development. Yes, the developer has addressed the issue of and the numbers are
reduced in line with the reduction in units, but 54 units demand at least 100 spaces and
there are 65. Our own development at Ashbourne Park provided TWO spaces for every
owner and yet we experience difficulties at times with tradesmen and visitors, for which
there is no provision. It is therefore pertinent to note that this development is not providing
anything like enough space for its residents, whilst tradesmen and visitors have been
ignored. Again I am not concerned about the disparity in numbers. My concern is the
numbers themselves when the design of the entrance into the has again been
studiously avoided or perhaps ignored. This level of increase in traffic WILL create safety
issues. For example the plan shows a parking lot for NINE cars (increased from 8
previously) immediately inside the entrance where manoeuvring is esse ntial and sight lines
for other drivers is poor. As a resident already using that entrance frequently, I have already
encountered several hazards including horses being hacked and jo ggers in marathon
training, both of which are not infrequent. None of those people can see into our access
road and we cannot see anything on the footpath when leaving. I would not relish the
prospect of turning into our drive from a busy A22 only to confront a car manoeuvring at
right angles to my path. So, to drastically increase the traffic usage without proper