A bid to build extra homes next to a major housing development in Hastings has been turned down by council planners.
Last week, Hastings Borough Council planning officers refused an application seeking permission to build 31 new homes on land to the south of Holmhurst Gardens — a 208-home development to the south of The Ridge.
Developer Foreman Homes had argued the additional homes would form a “small, cosy estate that forms a natural extension” to the neighbouring estate, which is at an advanced stage of construction.
If approved, the development would have been a cul-de-sac accessed through the existing development.
In a statement submitted as part of the application, a spokesman for the developer said: “Our aspiration for this site is to produce a development appropriate to Hastings that acts as a natural continuation of the neighbouring Holmhurst St Mary scheme.
“Through the completion of this project, we believe new residents will benefit from an enclosed, pedestrian friendly residential area that overlooks natural public green space to imbue a real sense of place.”
But in a Hastings Borough Council report setting out reasons for refusal, planning officers said the land had been “set aside as open space” for the Holmhurst Gardens development.
This open space had been intended to provide a recreational area for residents; a green buffer separating it from existing houses; and an “approved reptile receptor site” for wildlife displaced during its construction.
Council officers took the view that the proposals would create “overlapping” and conflicting planning permissions.
The report reads: “The open space on which the applicant is proposing to construct a further 31 dwellings, is an integral and specifically conditioned part of an implemented wider scheme.
“It is not ‘spare’ land available for further development, but land, the openness, ecological and aquatic qualities of which, were a critical factor in the grant of the 2015 planning permission.”
Planning officers said the proposal would “diminish the quality and acceptability of the original planning permission” and be unacceptable as a result of this conflict.
Officers had concluded the development would unacceptably harm residents of Holmhurst Gardens as a result of the loss of open amenity space.
They gave two further grounds for refusal, noting a lack of information around drainage and the ecological impact on reptiles.
For further information see application reference HS/FA/25/00398 on the Hastings Borough Council website.
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