Page 11 - Ashbourne Park

STEPS TOWARDS AN AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS
And stipulations

2 The Integrated Development (Continued)

Mr Owen:

• Initially denied that AHL had any option to develop the WH:LIC site;
• In further discussion, agreed that there were such plans –“although we haven’t got any
legal agreements at the moment”. He continued: “If we don’t [develop the site] Page | 3
someone else will”;

• Said that the development would not go ahead unless the Seeboard- Vodafone tower
could be relocated off site;
• Said that AHL was buying WH:EDF site and that the present owners – GCP
Developments Ltd - were not involved in a joint project;

• Said the WH:LIC site was “stand-alone” but that it “would be perfect if we could
develop it simultaneously: but we are not in that position”

• Said he would explore my suggestion (See Appendix G) - of creating a separate
entrance from the north eastern boundary of Ashbourne Park onto the A22 - with the
“highways people” and would telephone me with the result.
Mr Owen stuck to his word and wrote on 7 June 2018 saying that he had taken advice from
th
“our Highways Engineers”---- (who said)—"it would not be possible to provide separate
access given the Sussex County Highways requirements for distances between access points
and the fact that it would create a further possible traffic hazard with two accesses too close
to each other ” He concluded by stating: “We of course believe that our proposal fits in with
6
the provisions of the neighbourhood plan 2015-2031 (AWNP) and therefore will proceed
with the application which will no doubt be determined by Mid Sussex District Council.”
AHL’s advisers submitted a report on the consultation, implying that the villagers’ opinions
had been largely supportive and that it was not necessary to change the plans in any way. My
impression was that residents were universally concerned over access, traffic, infrastructure
pressures and the detrimental impact on neighbouring properties and the village generally. I
did not hear one favourable comment.

In early June 2018, the application was reinstated on MSDC’s website with slight, but
important, amendments:

• Changing the applicant’s name to include GCP Developments Ltd ;
7
• Removing a plan from the original application which showed an incorrect boundary
between the back garden of WH:LIC and Ashbourne Park ;
8
• Reloading a Design and Access Statement which had been inaccessible in the original
application.

6 There are 20 drives on the eastern side the relevant stretch of the A22 with an average interval of around 44
metres. A new drive could be cut from Ashbourne Park within existing parameters
7 The current owner of the WH:EDF site
8 Which would have given the development extra land