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Former Ashdown House, Sedlescombe Road North, St Leonards-on-sea, TN37 7PB

HS/FA/26/00066Full Planning PermissionRefused
Full

Refused on 9 June 2026

Council decision: REFUSED PERMISSION3 reasons for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

Change of use of the ground floor of Block 1, from a community centre to 2 x 2 bed self-contained flats, with associated parking and ancillary works

Received
4 February 2026
Ward
ASHDOWN
  1. Received
  2. Validated
  3. Consult.2 Apr
  4. Target2 Apr
  5. Decided9 Jun

About this application

This is a full planning application for a change of use at Former Ashdown House, Sedlescombe Road North, St Leonards-on-sea, TN37 7PB. Hastings has handled 387 applications of this type. This one was decided in 124 days, 10 weeks longer than Hastings's typical decision time. There have been 7 other applications at this address. In the past year there have been 48 applications across ASHDOWN. We hold 173 applications in total for the TN37 postcode area.

91% of full applications at Hastings Borough Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. The proposed change of use is inherently misconceived as it does not enable the Council to make a favourable recommendation, by virtue that the proposal neither seeks to assert, nor produce evidence to show, that the permitted primary use of the premises as a community centre, as approved under planning permissions HS/FA/21/00003, HS/FA/23/00392, HS/FA/23/00730, has been implemented. Accordingly, it is not possible for the Council to assess whether, as a matter of fact and degree, a material change of use from the primary use to that of the proposed use is capable of taking place were the application to be granted.
  2. By virtue of the precedent set by R (Dennis) v LB Southwark [2024]; Hillside Parks Ltd v Snowdonia National Park Authority [2022]; and, Finney v Welsh Ministers & Ors [2019], the application would directly conflict with the original planning permissions. The proposal would materially alter the nature and material considerations of the implemented permissions HS/FA/21/00003, HS/FA/23/00392, HS/FA/23/00730 and would therefore be considered to be unacceptable by virtue of this conflict.
  3. The loss of the ground floor of the application building for future use as a community facility is not justified, by virtue of an evidenced interest in providing and delivering a facility for the benefit of the community, without convincing counter evidence it would not be required or without suitable alternative provision being offered, it is considered therefore, that the proposal would conflict with Policy HC3 of the Hastings Development Management Plan (2015) and Paragraph 98 of the NPPF.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
TN37 7PB
Application type
Full Planning Permission
Scale / size
Small

Planning application dates

Date validated
4 February 2026
Consultation start
6 February 2026
Last date for comments
2 April 2026
Target decision date
2 April 2026
Decision issued
8 June 2026

Applicant and agent

Applicant
Private applicant

Planning decision

Case officer
Paul Howson
Statutory period
56 days

Publicity

Site notice start
12 February 2026

Additional information

Comments
0
Documents
13
Constraints
6

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions and tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (22)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Planning history at this site

7 other applications at this property, newest first.

  1. 2026
    28 Apr

    Planning application for siting an InPost Parcel Locker

    ApprovedApplicationHS/FA/26/00132
  2. 2026
    30 Mar

    Discharge of conditions: 22 (electric vehicle charging) and 23 (car parking details) of Planning Permission…

    ApprovedDischarge of conditionsHS/CD/26/00185
  3. 2026
    13 Jan

    Discharge of condition 21 (refuse storage) of Planning Permission HS/FA/24/00190

    ApprovedDischarge of conditionsHS/CD/26/00023
  4. 2025
    16 Dec

    Discharge of conditions: 15 (lighting scheme) and 41 (servicing management plan) of Planning Permission…

    ApprovedDischarge of conditionsHS/CD/25/00745
  5. 2025
    21 Oct

    Discharge of condition 7 (Soft Landscaping Details) of Planning Permission HS/FA/24/00190

    ApprovedDischarge of conditionsHS/CD/25/00626
  6. 2024
    29 Nov

    Discharge of conditions: 10 (drainage details); 11 (maintenance and management plan); 16 (land contamination…

    ApprovedDischarge of conditionsHS/CD/24/00825

Source: Hastings

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