2004 press releases

Local MP Calls For Seaford Development Access Route To Be Rejected

Seaford's MP Norman Baker joined Mayor Jon Freeman and local councillor Eddie Collict on Saturday to meet around 70 local residents concerned about plans to drive a route through Sandringham Close to access a parcel of land where houses are planned.  

All 70 crammed into the front room of one small semi-detached house to vent their views and hear the MP promise that he would write to the Planning Department at Lewes District Council to draw attention to the problems this access route would cause and to suggest an alternative.  

The MP believes the developer should be required to access the site by means of Cradle Hill Road, with a new link section being built from that road across to the site. The developers want to knock down two existing houses in Sandringham Close and drive the route through that way. But local residents say this is unacceptable because: 

• It would destroy Sandringham Close and leave two houses isolated, surrounded by roads
• It would lead to huge numbers of extra movements along Barn Rise, already heavily trafficked and difficult to negotiate because of parked cars
• The access road would come very close to properties in Belvedere Gardens
• The area would suffer particularly badly during the construction period which could last well over a year

Norman Baker says: 

"People reluctantly accept that the fight to stop development of this particular site has been lost, even though this will put additional strain on the infrastructure of the town. There are no more schools, police or health facilities being provided on the back of this development.

"What they cannot accept, however, are the proposed access arrangements, which will wreck the area and put huge traffic strain on Barn Rise. I think the developers need to look actively for another way into their site, perhaps up Cradle Hill Road. I accept that that route is not without its difficulties either, but the suspicion must be that the developers simply do not want to have prospective purchasers arrive through what is a very tatty and rundown road, and that is what is driving them."

Seaford Mayor, Jon Freeman, adds: "The developers need to think again. What they are proposing is simply not on."

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