Tesco Express bid to move in

THE controversial application to redevelop the former used-car site at Little Common with flats and a convenience supermarket comes back before councillors on Thursday.

Rother head of planning Frank Rallings will again recommend Rother planning committee to grant full planning permission.

Demolition of the used-car depot and the erection of three, three-storey town houses, 15 flats and new shops was refused in 2005.

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Demolition and the erection of a single retail unit topped by 10 flats was refused last year after a vociferous campaign by traders and members of the public who feared the purchaser would be Tesco Express which would force local independent traders out of business.

A revised application this year by H22 Bexhill Ltd. for a single retail unit, ten flats and 22 parking spaces was recommended for approval.

But at the March meeting councillors unhappy about provision for waste disposal / recycling and concerned that delivery lorries would need to back out into busy Cooden Sea Road deferred the application.

The plan drew two letters of support from local residents and 509 letters of objection from local residents and businesses.

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Mr Rallings will again advise Thursday's meeting that the application meets Rother planning policy set out in the new District Local Plan, which allocates the area for shopping use.

The committee meets in public session at the Town Hall at 9.30am.

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