On 20th October Hastings Borough Council’s Planning Committee reconsidered the planning application for the development of 31 houses and 4 flats on the land at the top of Speckled Wood. This had been approved, subject to conditions, in February 2014.
However, some of the conditions had not been met and the recent redesignation of Speckled Wood as Local Green Space, which includes this land, was a fundamental and material change that required the application to be reconsidered.
Ore CLT members attended the Planning meeting and were very pleased to witness the unanimous and all party agreement of the Planning Committee to refuse the application, as recommended by the planning officer.
This means that there is now no planning permission for any development in Speckled Wood apart from the small area where Church Street joins Clifton Road. This is the last stage in the process of protecting the woodland valley so that Ore CLT can work towards acquiring all of the land to create a Community Woodland.