Three-storey block of flats in Haywards Heath refused permission

The application for a plot of land next to the Kilnwood Apartments, in Rocky Lane, was described as ‘overbearing’ and ‘overdevelopment’ during a meeting of the planning committee last Thursday.

Phillip Coote (Con, Crawley Down & Turners Hill) said: “It’s just another case of trying to squeeze buildings into places where you’ve got a bit of open land.

“I know Haywards Heath is not a countryside park but it is in the country and people move out here to breathe.

“We can’t keep on bunging buildings up, we’ve got to give people a little bit of space.

“If they don’t need space then they go and live in Walthamstow or Brixton or somewhere like that. When they move out here they expect to have a little bit of air.”

While the block was designed to match the three which make up Kilnwood Apartments, it would have been set closer to the road.

It would also have been built on an area selected for landscaping when the apartments were approved in 2017.

On the positive side, all nine of the two-bedroom flats would have been classed as affordable.

This was not enough to sway the committee, with members agreeing unanimously with the recommendation to refuse the application on the grounds that it would have a ‘significantly harmful impact on the semi-rural character of the area’.

To view the application, log on to pa.midsussex.gov.uk and search for DM/20/3456.