Plans to demolish 14 garages and replace them with three homes have been approved by Horsham District Council.
The application from Saxon Weald Homes, for a site between Kings Barn End and Kings Stone Avenue, Steyning, was given the nod by the planning committee on Tuesday (January 21).
The garages are privately owned and 12 of the 14 are being used – but they will now be replaced with a terrace of two-bedroom houses, all of which will be classed as affordable.
There will be parking for six cars, and each home will have a back garden and solar panels.
The council received ten objections to the plans, with concerns raised including over-development.
It was a concern shared by Steyning Parish Council, which said: “The consequence of the proposed dwellings replacing garages will exacerbate the parking problem that already exists in the area in the evenings and at weekends.
“This parking issue is already a safety risk which will be made worse.”
Questions were asked about the narrow access to the site, with Victoria Finnegan (Green, Steyning & Ashurst) raising concerns about safety, especially if vehicles had to reverse out and cars were parked close to the entrance.
The committee was told: “We recognise it’s not an ideal situation, but technically it is acceptable.”
Ruth Fletcher (Lib Dem, Denne) shared the concerns about the access but added: “Using an old garage brownfield site for affordable housing is really a very good thing to be seeing.”
The application was approved by 13 votes to zero with one abstention.
To view it in full, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/23/0539.
