Willow Farm, Under Road, Herstmonceux, BN27 1QE

1. 1.The proposed development would not constitute a conversion of the existing agricultural building, as the building is not capable of conversion without significant modification. Further, the change of use and alterations to the building and site would result in harm to its agricultural character while failing to respect local residential character. The design of the dwelling is poor and contrived and results in visual harm. In addition, insufficient information has been provided to establish that the reduced visibility splays at the proposed dwelling's access onto the highway would not present an unacceptable highway safety risk. As a result, the development does not benefit from any of the Development Plan's rural exception policies and it represents a new build house in the countryside in an unsustainable location. The weight to be afforded to the delivery of a single dwelling in terms of housing supply, support to the existing rural services in the area and short term economic benefits of the construction phase, are outweighed by the significant impacts in terms of sustainability from the dwelling, where residents will be almost wholly reliant on private vehicle trips to access facilities and services on a day to day basis. It is considered that the identified harm provides a strong reason for refusing the development and this outweighs the benefits. The proposal would represent unsustainable development under the National Planning Policy Framework. Accordingly, the proposal is contrary to Saved Policies GD2, EN1, EN8, DC6, DC8, DC17 and TR3 of the Wealden Local Plan 1998; Spatial Planning Objectives SPO1, SPO7 and Policies WCS6 and WCS14 of the Wealden Core Strategy Local Plan 2013; Section 11 of the Wealden Design Guide 2008; and paragraphs 7, 8, 84, 109, 115, 116, 117, 131, 135 and 187 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

BN27 1QE

Application type

Full

Scale / size

Small

Parish

Herstmonceux

Date validated

17 December 2025

Consultation expiry

2 February 2026

Consultation start

7 January 2026

Consultation end

2 February 2026

Target decision date

11 February 2026

Committee meeting

11 February 2026

Agent address

2 Birling Way Uckfield East Sussex TN22 1LP

Statutory period

56 days

Site notice start

7 January 2026

Documents

15