Residents of Military Road have raised concerns on learning that an application has been submitted to Rother District Council (RDC) to develop land adjacent to The Globe Inn.
The planning application is for the change of use of a small strip of vacant land and the erection of a two-storey building comprising of a garage for a single car on the ground floor and an office on the first floor for a garden designer who lives locally.
Local residents have logged a number of complaints with RDC, with one activist typing out objections and distributing them in a pamphlet entitled: ‘Save your neighbourhood from greedy developers!’ Complaints range from the fact that the new building will be opposite the Grade II-listed Waterloo Terrace, and will adversely affect the distinct character of the street, through to the loss of several on-street parking spaces.
There is, though, a certain amount of confusion regarding the planning notice. While it is clear from the application that the first floor will house a ’design studio’, ie an office, RDC look to have incorrectly posted it up on its website and in local media as a ‘studio flat’, which would lead you to believe it is a habitable dwelling. The full application can be viewed here.
The plot of land was originally sold by East Sussex County Council, who had purchased it for a now defunct scheme to build a new road to connect with Bridge Place on the other side of the railway tracks. Rye News has reason to believe that RDC are about to do something similar with a piece of land they also own on Military Road on the north side of The Globe Inn. A long strip of land, also under the embankment of Rye Road, has recently been cleared and it is believed is being prepared to be sold for development.
Image Credits: Kevin McCarthy .
This plot (east of the Globe) is at the base of the land which rises steeply to Point Hill. Houses above have lost pieces of land to slip within living memory. Therefore there is a record of land instability in this area. The risk is recorded in the Rye Neighbourhood Plan and reflected in Rother’s planning policy documents.
Photographic evidence in the planning application shows that the site south of the Globe is a brownfield site. There was a substantial building there. A “greedy” developer would have taken advantage of this to propose a much larger development!
The proposed garage with an office above is very modest and appears well considered. It provides off street parking and the opportunity to tidy up and landscape what is otherwise a derelict corner.
The area in and around Rye is in desperate need of more housing, this proposal would seem to me to be a waste of a proposed site that could be turned into residential properties. This proposal is for a two story building that won’t even be lived in, taking up a footprint where two potential studio flats could exist. In my opinion it’s madness.
I don,t recall the same furore when the disgusting looking plastic box like structure was built alongside the Globe a couple of years back? An eyesore if ever there was one. Try aligning this box with the design of Brass Knocker Row opposite.
It’s one thing after another with speculative developers. No sooner has the proposed estate of 24 houses on a site the size of a postage stamp in Playden been rejected on appeal than we have another completely inappropriate application to contend with. My thoughts about the newly cleared site further along Military Road
are that it may be intended for private parking spaces. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.