Wealden councillors have turned down plans to convert a disused barn near Hadlow Down into a family home.
On Thursday (January 16), Wealden District Council’s Planning Committee North considered proposals to convert a disused agricultural building at Passalls Farm in Wilderness Lane into a six-bedroom family home.
Before making its decision, the committee heard how the new home would have been occupied by a family of seven, who already live in smaller accommodation on the same property.
Applicant Connor Stratford said: “We have lived in the annex of our family home, Passalls Farm, for 13 years. We have five young children who were born here, go to school here, our family and friends are here, our lives are here. Their grandparents, essentially my in-laws, live in the main farmhouse.
“We have outgrown the annex and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, because we cannot afford to buy a suitable home in the area.”
Council planning officers had recommended that the scheme be turned down. Their most prominent concern related to whether the proposals would qualify as a conversion — a form of development which carries additional rights for the applicant.
Officers had taken a view the works required to make the building habitable would essentially be a rebuild and so too significant to count as a conversion. They had also raised concerns about the impact of the structure on the character of the High Weald National Landscape and the impact of “intensified residential occupation” on the Ashdown Forest.
In taking this view, officers stressed the importance of ‘consistency’ in how the council makes its decisions — arguing that following planning policy was the most effective way of
The applicant disputed the validity of all of these concerns, arguing that the property would be well-screened, improve on what was there in any case and not result in any additional impact on the Ashdown Forest due to it being a replacement for an existing home. They also pointed to a structural engineer’s view that the conversion would be possible and the council’s 2023 approval of a similar scheme on a neighbour’s land.
Committee members were split over what to do, with councillors both in favour and against the proposals.
Proposing approval, Cllr Ann Newton (Con) said: “This large barn is already there and … for the family to make it into a house so that they can all stay together, I think, is totally acceptable.
“We have done this before, many times before … and I can’t see why we can’t do it again.”
This view was shared by several others, including Cllr Andrew Wilson (Ind) who said: “I personally don’t consider this is going to degrade the [HWNL]; it is very difficult to see from the road and — no offense intended to the applicant — I consider [the existing] building to be quite ugly and I think it would be an improvement actually.
“We should be providing the vitality of our villages, so I think there is an economic argument to keep this growing young family in the district and supporting everyone.”
But other councillors felt the committee needed to adhere to planning policy and so follow the officer’s recommendation to refuse planning permission.
Speaking in favour of this view, Cllr Gareth Owen-Williams (Lib Dem) said: “A conversion is where you adapt something to make it fit for a new purpose. If you have to take away most of it and just go back to the bare bones and start in a completely different direction, I don’t see that as an adaptation.”
He added: “It is just another heads versus hearts situation, but I think we have to be clear there are rules in planning, whether we like it or not. Sometimes we get 300 houses that have no power to stop and there is sometimes one house that we would love to approve, but the rules say it doesn’t actually fit.”
Following further discussion, the committee agreed to refuse planning permission on a vote of seven to five.
For further information see application reference WD/2024/2422/F on the Wealden District Council website.
