Project Description
CLIENT
Retirement Villages
SECTORS
Care
LOCATION
South Chailey, East Sussex
PLANNING AUTHORITY
Lewes District Council
HIGHWAY AUTHORITY
East Sussex County Council
PROJECT TEAM
LCE Architects
PROJECT MANAGER
Andrew Snowden
PROJECT DIRECTOR
James Darrall
PROJECT
We were appointed by Retirement Villages to support a scheme for an a retirement village off Gradwell End, South Chailey. Initially, this comprised a 40 bed care home and 40 extra care units, which was allowed at appeal in 2015. A subsequent revised application was submitted in 2017 for a scheme comprising 65 extra care units.
APPROACH
The original development had been recommended for approval and there were no objections raised by the highway authority, but the application was refused by the Council’s planning committee with two reasons for refusal that in part related to the sustainability of the site in transport terms. We were subsequently appointed to provide expert witness at the planning appeal. As part of this we prepared a Proof of Evidence and a Statement of Common Ground with the highway authority. These demonstrated that the development was sufficiently sustainable in transport terms, taking into account on-site facilities that reduced the need for travel, along with a bespoke minibus service for use by residents. The minibus service was also proposed to operate a staff shuttle service to allow staff from surrounding areas to travel to the site by sustainable means.
Following the approval of the appeal scheme, we were appointed to support a revised planning application for 65 extra care units. We prepared a Transport Statement as part of this which demonstrated that the proposals would deliver the same sustainable transport benefits as the approved scheme, but would be associated with fewer vehicle trips as a result of the reduced scale.
OUTCOME
The planning application was approved by Lewes District Council in 2017.