Eco-friendly holiday cabins

A plan for environmentally friendly holiday cabins in Haywards Heath has been submitted to Mid Sussex District Council.

Arley Hill Ventures has applied through its agent Rod way Planning Consultancy to build at Great Bentley Plantation, off Borde Hill Lane.

The proposal for the 3.9-hectare site is to provide five selfcontained holiday lodges and convert a shed into a reception building.

A design and access statement by Tom Dunn Architects said: "At the core of the brief for this proposal is the desire to repair the damaged ecosystem of the site while introducing five sensitivity designed short stay accommodation cabins, which allow visitors to be immersedin nature and benefit from the associated well being this provides.”

The plan for compact luxury overnight accommodation would increase the number of parking spaces from seven to nine with access to the site being via an existing track. The design and access statement said each cabin has a V-shaped roof to capture rainwater while the external cl adding will be thermally treated larch or western red cedar to help the cabins blend into their surroundings. The structures are also designed to be ‘very low energy usage’. The statement said the site is being used for a large pheasant shoot from October to March. It said the northern portion is woodland that has been felled due to ‘ash die-back’ disease. It said :“The applicant intends for the woodland to re generate, in part through are planting grant from the forestry commission, and seeks to establish a series of ‘woodland rides’ which help create a bio diverse broad leaf woodland .”