Eastbourne Heights caravan park expansion appeal dismissed by planning inspector

In a decision notice published on Friday (June 23), a planning inspector has dismissed proposals seeking to increase the number of caravans stationed at Eastbourne Heights, a static caravan park in Oak Tree Lane run by Starglade Park Homes.

While an Eastbourne address, the park falls within the planning boundary of Wealden District Council. The council had last approved plans to expand the park in 2018, with conditions at the time limiting the number of caravans allowed on the site to no more than 103.

The application at the centre of the appeal had sought to remove these conditions, with the initial aim of adding 10 further static caravans to the site. These caravans would have been placed on an open amenity space at the centre of the park.

Wealden District Council refused this request in January last year, due to concerns around the loss of the open space and the loss of the existing amenities available to caravan park residents.

These concerns were shared by the planning inspector. In their decision notice, the inspector said: “The proposed layout would significantly reduce both the amount of open space within the site and the degree to which it is open and accessible to the surrounding occupiers.

“[The open space] would be significantly smaller and largely located behind the additional mobile homes. As such, the outlook across the space from many of the surrounding mobile homes would be significantly curtailed, as would the points from which it can easily be accessed for recreational purposes.

“The space would also be less suited to recreational or community activities involving any significant number of residents, due both to its reduced size and the potential disturbance to occupiers of the new mobile homes.”

The inspector also noted that the proposals, if allowed to go ahead, would lead to the park having less open space than is required under the terms of its licensing arrangements. While not a planning matter, the inspector said this could be used as “an objective indication” of the amount of open space required on the site.

Ultimately the inspector opted to dismiss the appeal, concluding that the harm to existing park residents would outweigh the benefits of additional homes.