Permission In Principle Given To St Leonards Housing Plans

Plans for housing in St Leonards are acceptable in principle, council officers have said.

Last week, Hastings Borough Council planning officers approved a Permission In Principle (PIP) application proposing the construction of between two and four new homes on land next to a property known as 70 Hollington Old Lane.

PIP applications are intended to act as a streamlined planning process for small scale developments, allowing applicants to establish whether a site would be suitable for housing without producing a full design.

They are intentionally limited in their scope, considering only location, land use and amount of development. Other matters are considered at a later stage.

Council planning officers considered the development, proposed by applicant Mr S Eldridge, to be acceptable.

In a report, a council planning spokesman said:

“Overall it is considered that the proposed redevelopment to accommodate a minimum of two dwellings and a maximum of four dwellings is considered acceptable in principle.

“The details of the proposal would sit alongside any subsequent application for technical details consent and at that stage a full assessment of the application would be made including the impact on the character and appearance of the area, neighbouring residential amenity, impact on a possible non-designated heritage asset, the impact on parking, the impact on drainage, the impact on ecology and biodiversity, and the impact on land stability.

“On this basis, it is considered that this PIP application is acceptable and recommended for approval. However, it is to be noted that a PIP is not a planning permission, it is a precursor to it.

“A planning permission only exists when the PIP and TDC have been granted. No planning conditions can be added to a PIP although conditions can be imposed at the technical details consent stage.”

For further information see application reference HS/PIP/26/00240 on the Hastings Borough Council website.