Representations made on planning applications following the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 4th June 2025
Decisions: The following SDNPA decisions are available online:
SDNP/25/00630/FUL: Change of use of lower ground floor unit from financial and professional services use (Class E(c) (ii), to a 1 bed residential flat (Class C3). 78 High Street. Refused.
New Planning Applications:-
SDNP/25/01871/FUL: Land East of Brooks Road. Demolition of existing buildings and redevelopment to provide Class E foodstore with ancillary parking, access and landscaping.
The Friends of Lewes object to this proposal for the following reasons:-
(1) From a townscape context, the Society considers that this proposal by Lidl Great Britain Ltd would be an inappropriate form of development at this important location, at a ‘gateway’ to the historic town of Lewes.
(2) The South Elevation of the proposed building would present a long and completely ‘blank façade’ to Phoenix Causeway, with only low level shrub planting along the frontage of the site, which would be insufficient to screen the building.
(3) The pedestrian entrance to the proposed development is indicated from Brooks Road, but this is unlikely to be acceptable in the absence of a pedestrian crossing across Brooks Road.
(4) In terms of the proposed use of the site, the Society has concerns about the both the need for a fourth supermarket in Lewes at this location, immediately adjacent to both Tesco and Aldi, and in terms of food security within the flood plain.
(5) The Society is also concerned about whether Brooks Road, and in particular the existing roundabout serving the Tesco supermarket, would be able to cope with the additional traffic that would be generated by the proposed development.
(6) It would be desirable to encourage increased patronage of the range of existing shops within the town centre, and the Society is also concerned that this proposal is unlikely to achieve this objective, although it would be beneficial if shoppers could park for three hours on this site, which is the case on the nearby Tesco car park.
(7) With regard to the large areas of hard surfaces proposed in the redevelopment of this site, it would be essential to provide suitable measures to contain all surface water drainage, particularly at the east end of the site, where there has been repeated surface water flooding after intensive summer rain.
(8) In terms of encouraging better sustainable forms of development within Lewes, the Society considers that the proposed demolition of all the existing buildings on this site to be most regrettable, and would like to suggest that there may be scope for the more contemporary buildings on the site to be retained, and converted as part of a mixed use development.
(9) Alternatively, it could be argued that the removal of all the existing buildings, whilst regrettable from a sustainability perspective, could result in a better overall use of the site, providing an opportunity for a comprehensive mixed use development, which could provide clear land use benefits and architectural enhancements to the wider townscape at this significant gateway location.
SDNP/25/01502/HOUS: 1 Barn Road: Section 73A retrospective construction of timber outbuilding and alteration to boundary fence to provide gated access.
The Friends of Lewes object to this proposal to retain a timber building, erected without planning permission, with an altered boundary fence, and the installation of a gated access.
In addition, a tarmacked vehicular access across the large grass verge to the west of the property has been constructed, together with a dropped kerb to the carriageway, which has not been included within the description of the proposed works and is outside the curtilage of the application site indicated with a red line.
The Society therefore recommends that the timber outbuilding should be removed at the earliest opportunity, the gate removed and the boundary fence re-instated to its original height. In addition, the vehicular access across the large grass verge should be removed and the grass re-instated, in order to restore the overall appearance of the street scene at this location.
SDNP/25/01772/HOUS: 17 Tanners Brook: Erection of single storey garden room.
The Friends of Lewes appreciate that this proposal is within an area that is liable to flood, and that certain measures have been made to raise the proposed structure in order to minimise any future water damage. However, the Society would like to recommend that if the application is supported, that a planning condition be added limiting the use of the structure as a garden room only with no sleeping accommodation.
SDNP/25/01783/HOUS: 51 St Annes Crescent: Replacement of garden wall/hedge to widen driveway and the extension driveway with block paving, removal of rear extension to south elevation and replacement with new single storey extension with roof lantern. Installation of chimney stack ion the same position of original, replacement of slimline double glazing to upper ground floor conservatory, increase in window height of 2no rear windows to be full height. Replacement of garden stairs with cast iron spiral staircase with existing door moved to upper ground floor conservatory. External alterations such as the installation of 2no air sourced heat pumps to rear, installation of soil vent pipe to side and the installation of an electric vehicle charging point to side wall rear driveway.
The Friends of Lewes specifically object to the “Replacement of garden wall/hedge to widen the driveway and the extension driveway with block paving” for the following reasons:-
(1) The existing wall and hedge of this semi-detached property, together with the attached property, 52 St Annes Crescent, make an important contribution to the overall quality of the streetscene within the Conservation Area, having similar narrow parking spaces and extensive hedges fronting St Annes Crescent.
(2) The loss of the existing hedge and the widening of the existing driveway, would have a detrimental impact on the quality of the streetscene.
(3) In more detail, if the drawing of the “Existing Front Elevation” is compared to the drawing of the “Proposed Front Elevation” the length of the existing hedge would be reduced by over 2metres and the width of the drive increased by over 2metres, which would be a significant change.
(4) With reference to the proposed change of surface on the drive, whilst the removal of the existing concrete is to be welcomed, the proposed “herringbone brick paving” is not considered to be an acceptable surface. The Society recommends that a more porous surface should be provided, together with other drainage measures to address surface water run-off, should they be required.
SDNP/25/01671/FUL: Eastgate Wharf: Demolition of existing buildings and construction of mixed-use development comprising 74 dwellings (Class C3), ground floor commercial space (Class E), with associated landscaping, parking, access alterations, and public realm.
Whilst the Friends of Lewes welcome the proposed redevelopment of this important site fronting the River Ouse in the centre of Lewes, the Society is not yet able to support this proposal for the following reasons:-
(1) The Society is aware of the objection by the Environment Agency, and would support the need for a Flood Risk Assessment to be submitted by the applicant.
(2) The proposed scheme by Cayuga Developments illustrates a number of interesting architectural elements and areas of good quality public realm, which would link the town centre to the River Ouse, and would be a great improvement on the existing car park and the abandoned timber warehouse.
(3) However, the Society suggests that certain aspects of the proposed scheme require further consideration and include the following concerns:-
(a) Whilst it is appreciated that the small groups of buildings of different styles would result in more variety being provided, the Society considers that the current scheme is too fussy and should be simplified.
(b) Of particular townscape importance is the scale of the proposed development fronting the River Ouse, as the site forms part of the ‘gateway to Lewes’, and will be very visible from both the Phoenix Causeway and from the tow path on the eastern side of the river. (c) In this respect, it is suggested that the scale and range of the existing buildings fronting the river south of Cliffe Bridge, namely the Riverside, Vipers Wharf, Falcon Wharf and the former Strickland Warehouse establish an interesting precedent to the scale of development that would be suitable for this site.
(c) In this respect, it is suggested that the scale and range of the existing buildings fronting the river south of Cliffe Bridge, namely the Riverside, Vipers Wharf, Falcon Wharf and the former Strickland Warehouse establish an interesting precedent to the scale of development that would be suitable for this site.
(d) It is therefore recommended that the proposed development should be limited to a maximum of four storeys, in order to be sympathetic in scale to the wider setting along the river frontage between the Phoenix Causeway and Cliffe Bridge.
(e) It is considered essential to visually integrate the upper floors with the ground floor, rather than have a change of structure above ground floor level, but it is appreciated that this approach would be difficult to achieve in the absence of an agreed FRA, (flood risk assessment).
(f) Providing a ‘live frontage’, with commercial units fronting the River Ouse at ground level is considered to be essential, in order to cater for increased pedestrian flows in the future, when the riverside walkway is linked to the North Street Quarter site under the Phoenix Causeway.
(g) There is a need to ensure that the riverside walkway can be linked in the future to Cliffe High Street, in the vicinity of Cliffe Bridge.
(5) With specific reference to the “Townscape and Visual Appraisal” documents and in particular the colour coded outlines of the proposed development in Part 2, the images on pages 6,7, 33 & 34 are not only inaccurate, but very misleading and should be corrected.
(6) As a pre-requisite for redeveloping this site, the Society also suggests that it is essential that the local planning authority needs to identify an alternative location for public car parking to replace the existing car parking provision on this site.
(7) The Society recommends that there is a need to considerably reduce the overall number of car parking spaces on this site, as the majority of future residents would not be expected to own a car at this town centre location. Indeed, there is already more than one example of a basement car park being grossly underused in a relatively recent redevelopments in the town centre.
(8) Although not included within the proposed site boundary, the Society considers that it would be essential for the Highway Authority to provide a right hand turn at the top of the existing exit ramp at its junction with the Phoenix Causeway, in order to allow motorists to avoid having to circulate within the town centre, or worse still to use Cliffe High Street as an exit from the town centre.
(9) The near continuous discharge of untreated sewage from the Southern Water, Ham Lane (Lewes) sewage pumping station, shows that the public sewage system in Lewes is broken, and requires substantial major works so that it has capacity to retain, and pass forward all flows for treatment at the Newhaven Sewage Treatment Works. An independent review into sewer capacity needs to confirm that additional homes will not cause further discharges of untreated sewage to the River Ouse.
(10) The Society therefore recommends that no new housing developments in Lewes should be implemented until these works have been completed.
The Committee examined the following applications and had no observations to make:
| SDNP/25/01400/HOUS: 14 Fisher Street | Removal of plain clay tiles and replacement with natural slate, including 2no dormers to rear slope and 3no roof lights to front. Removal and replacement of rear outshot roof and demolition of chimney breast and stack, raising of eaves and re-slating of roof to match main roof, including 4no roof lights. Demolition of bathroom and WC to the rear of outshot and replacement with extension to create a day room. |
| SDNP/25/01409/HOUS: 3 Cockshut Road | Erection of single storey ground floor side extension and front porch, conversion of flat roof to dual pitched roof, replacement of windows throughout and installation of solar panels to south facing roof slope. |
| SDNP/25/01912/HOUS: 3 Mount Pleasant | Installation of 2no roof lights to rear roof. |
| SDNP/25/01936/HOUS: 67A Houndean Rise | Installation of cladding to first floor exterior. |
| SDNP/25/01991/FUL & 01992/LIS: 141 High Street | Lowering height of flat roof and installation of mechanically opening roof light. |
| SDNP/25/02048/NMA: 102 Prince Edwards Road | Non-Material Amendment to Planning Approval SDNP/21/00113/HOUS to include changing from a two storey side and single storey rear extension to a 1.5 storey side extension only and reduction in height of this extension |
| SDNP/25/02058/HOUS: 7 Offham Road | Erection of single-storey rear extension, raising height of existing side extension, installation of 2no. rooflights at front and 1no. at rear elevations, including alterations to fenestration and landscaping. |
Friends of Lewes 