A new planning application for 65 homes has been submitted for the former Thomas Peacocke School site, also known as the Lower School site.
The application consists of 38 houses and 27 flats with 92 car parking bays and 83 cycle spaces. A critical change is that the development includes the demolition of the Queen Adelaide pub. This will mean access to the housing development will be further away from the railway crossing - a sticking point with the last application when East Sussex County Council put in an objection.
At 65 homes, the developer exceeds the 50 identified for the site in Rye’s Neighbourhood Plan. While the plan has yet to be put to a vote and approved by Rye residents, it has been progressed to such an extent that Rother District Council is likely to question why the developers make no reference to the plan nor explain why they are proposing so many homes for the site.
The majority of the flats will contain two bedrooms with only five of the 27 being one bed units. The houses proposed will be a mix of two bed (7 in number); three bed (18 in number) and four bed houses (13 in number).
As previously covered in Rye News the last planning application was for 72 homes, of which 29 were flats. And like the previous application the new application makes no mention of the percentage of ‘affordable homes’ within the development.
Network Rail objected to the last application because of the increase in the number of pedestrians using the level crossing. Network Rail has said that the level crossing ‘is currently at capacity in its ability to cater for pedestrians.’ It is likely that they will object to this scheme unless the developer agrees to contribute towards the costs of widening the level crossing.
You can view and comment on the plans here. A decision is expected by April 11 but judging from the time it took to deliberate on previous applications that could be wishful thinking.
