Residents in Bexhill feel that there has been little consultation about new proposals for Gullivers Bowls Club

Residents surrounding the Gullivers Bowls Club, Bexhill have been presented with yet another proposal to build on the club’s green field site. Previous, unsuccessful, proposals resulted in legal procedures, ultimately leading to a Court of Appeal decision that turned down construction.

Only a limited amount of neighbouring properties have been advised of these newest plans, and very limited time was given to elicit comments. Apparently, these most recent proposals have been discussed by the developers and the planning office since at least June 2021. Residents feel that there has been little consultation about these proposals and are not aware of plans to consult or include local residents in the current planning process.

I would ask the following questions:

Does Rother actually have a planning process or not?

Why has the public not been more involved in the planning process?

Why has so little been said about these plans and why has there been so little consultation?

Similarly, we should also ask ourselves the purpose of the planning process itself.

Is it meant to consist of developers submitting one inappropriate plan after another until there is planning committee in place that either does not understand or does not care about the preservation of community assets like green spaces?

Is the purpose of the planning office merely to locate and rubber stamp construction on every green space in Bexhill?

Since 2002 local groups have opposed a number of inappropriate proposals to build on the Gullivers site.

Please send your letters to [email protected]. Letters must be accompanied by a full name and address. Anonymous letters are never printed. We reserve the right to edit letters for any reason.