Hailsham housing plans refused over Southern Water capacity

A major housing scheme in East Sussex has been refused by planners amid concerns about Southern Water's ability to cope with additional development. 

Plans to build 220 homes off Mill Road in Hailsham were considered at a Wealden District Council planning meeting on Thursday.

Southern Water said it would only have sufficient capacity for 50 homes without an increased risk of flooding.

The company said the problem could be resolved with reinforcement works.

The scheme had last been considered by the committee in June, when councillors deferred their decision in hopes of securing more detailed information from Southern Water about the impact of the houses on the local sewerage network. 

While the council received some additional information following the deferral, the water company's core advice did not change. This failed to satisfy committee members.

Among those to raise concerns was Liberal Democrat councillor Neil Cleaver, who said: "I know of other development sites which have been given outline planning permission in and around Hailsham where upgrades were supposed to be done.

"Southern Water said they would be done and the residents of that area are still being flooded out with raw sewage every time we have downpours."

Council officers said the committee would be acting unreasonably and going beyond its powers with a refusal. 

Stacey Robins, the council's head of planning, said: "A refusal or even a deferral that triggers an appeal event based around not trusting Southern Water would be unreasonable behaviour."

The scheme was refused planning permission on a majority vote.

Southern Water said: "We work closely with Wealden council holding regular meetings with officers and providing updates.

"We are not a statutory consultee on individual planning matters but have worked closely with the developer to ensure our assets will be fit for purpose."

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