Developers' plans for Glyne Gap restaurants is dismissed on appeal

The Restaurant Group (TRG) submitted plans last year to build a Frankie & Benny’s and a Chiquito on the field next to the roundabout by Ravenside Retail Park.

The developers claimed the scheme would have generated more than £2m annually and created 141 jobs.

The site is part of the Combe Valley Countryside Park.

In June last year Rother District Council’s planning committee refused planning permission for the scheme.

Most councillors agreed with the officer’s recommendation to refuse permission with many concerned about its location on the Combe Valley Countryside Park.

Officers believed the application would cause ‘unacceptable harm’ to the existing open character and views of the countryside park.

Five residents had stated their support for the scheme while 60 objections were received.

Paul Jackson, from The Planning Inspectorate, said in his report: “The site, as part of a wider area of adjacent land to the east, is highly valued for its scenic quality by reason of its contrast with nearby extensive built development and its direct linkages with wider countryside and the shoreline. It has a distinctive character despite its relatively degraded quality in terms of form and vegetation.

“The proposed new buildings would add substantial built form on the eastern side of the road. The two new restaurant blocks would completely urbanise the eastern corner of the Combe Valley Countryside Park with no obvious natural boundary line separating them from open land. The land is not in good condition and receives only basic maintenance by mowing. Nevertheless it is important in townscape terms because of its immediate contrast with intensive built development and traffic.

“The proposed restaurants and associated car parking and activity would be visually prominent and would effectively extend the Ravenside Retail Park beyond the A259 into an open green field. I conclude that there would be a marked and significant deterioration in the character and appearance of the Combe Valley Countryside Park where it meets the coast.”

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