Decision due on new Iford farm buildings

At a virtual meeting on Thursday (June 11), planners for the South Downs National Park Authority are set to consider proposals to build eight new agricultural buildings, a silage clamp and a new access track at Iford Farm in Piddinghoe Road.

While recommended for approval, the proposals have proven to be highly controversial among local residents, with more than 230 objections submitted in response to the application.

Among those to raise objections are a number of local councillors, Lewes MP Maria Caulfield and Baroness Kay Andrews – a Labour peer, who had previously been a planning minister in the House of Lords.

In her letter of objection, Baroness Andrews said: “This decision seems to fly in the face of all that the SDNP is supposed to conserve and protect. 

“The Iford developers have a track record of ‘pushing the boundaries’ of planning out as far as they possibly can. 

“This application will lead to degradation of the environment, to the loss of amenity in terms of access for walkers and cyclists and will increase every hazard in terms of using the road. It brings no public benefit. 

“Above all, it is not consistent with the principles of the National Parks [not] to encourage heavy traffic, to reduce the peace and quiet of our remaining countryside, or to make life more difficult and unsafe for visitors or local people. This application will do all that.”

Baroness Andrews – and other objectors – also argue the proposals will create an industrial site, changing the nature and character of the area.

This view, however, is not shared by planning officers from the park authority. According to park planners, the proposals will “sit well” among existing buildings at the site without “an unacceptable level of dominance”.

In a report to be considered by the planning committee, officers said: “It is considered that the development within the farm will accord with the existing character of the site and that the benefits from the consolidated farm operation outweigh any changes to the wider visual impact of the proposals. 

“A planning condition will be required to control final land levels and to ensure that the works to re-grade the field are carried out concurrently with the farm construction works in order to achieve a satisfactory scheme.”

Planners also argue the scheme will accord with the Iford Whole Estate Plan (WEP), a document laying out plans for the future of the estate which was formally endorsed by the park authority in 2018.

Objectors, however, have also raised concerns about the weight given to the WEP in the planning process, given that it did not involve local consultation in the same way as a local plan.

Objectors have also raised concerns around the potential for an increase in heavy vehicles using the C7, although East Sussex Highways has not raised an objection. 

Developers, meanwhile, argue that the proposals will allow Iford Farm to create a central and accessible base from which the whole Estate can be farmed. 

This will increase the operational efficiency of the farmland and ensure it remains competitive, developers say.

For further information on the proposals see application reference SDNP/19/03768/FUL on the South Downs National Park Authority website.

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