Articles

By undertaking a thorough desk-top assessment and engaging with a transport consultant at the earliest stage due to the lack of available on-site parking space, the team were able to adequately assess the potential of the site and responded to the site owner’s enquiry by recommending an application be made for full planning permission to convert the premises. This application also involved instructing an architect to obtain suitable drawings and a transport consultant to provide specialist input that would justify the impact of the scheme on local highways.

Once the application was submitted in March 2024, several objection comments from residents and the Seaford Town Council were received because of the lack of proposed on-site car parking. However, due to the specialist transport input included within the application, this view was not shared by the East Sussex County Council Highways Authority consulted on the application or the LPA Planning Officer in charge of determining the application. Subsequently, the application was granted planning permission in June 2024 as the LPA Planning Officer considered that “the proposed development represents the efficient use of an existing, under-utilised building in a sustainable location. This would be achieved without any unacceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the surrounding area, residential and environmental amenities or the highway network.”