In 2011 Peacehaven Town Council consulted with residents on what they would like to see built at Lower Hoddern Farm.

Unanimously they voted for a retirement village, to provide homes, jobs and shops for an evolving community. Lewes District Council ignored this, instead they chose to implement their 2012 Core Strategy, based on the amount of money they could charge independent developers in tax.

Years later Barratt Homes submit a planning application for 450 homes, and offered some extra buses, bicycle vouchers and “cycle training” and minor road junction changes.

Councillor Andy Smith stated at the Peacehaven Annual Town meeting that “Barratts are political lobbyists” and that the Secretary of State would overturn the decision should the Lewes District Council planning committee turn down the application for 450 homes.

Barratt Homes has not offered any real infrastructure improvements that would benefit either the development or the town as a whole.

East Sussex County Council Highways has refused to build new roads, and will only carry out essential maintenance in the town.

Rupert Clubb, director of communities economy and transport for East Sussex County Council, confirmed that the roads within the new development will not be adopted by the council.

This leaves a legacy of possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds to pay for the upkeep of all the roads on this site for the foreseeable future.

Peacehaven residents and Peacehaven Town Council have opposed this development, residents came together and have submitted over a thousand objections to Lewes District Council.

Allegedly the district council may decide to allocate over £300,000 of CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) money to assist the developers, prior to granting planning permission.

This application has been predetermined by the officers of Lewes District Council, who may well not be in post the following week to pick up the pieces.