Don’t overlook impact it’ll have
I write regarding your article: ‘Slinfold Cricket project: Club makes plea to neighbours’.
While I believe most in Slinfold support the prospect of a much-needed new cricket pavilion, the impact of the proposed housing development on the character and historic nature of the village must not be overlooked.
The current application differs substantially from the original plans presented to the Parish Council by adding density and increasing the size and number of dwellings.
By doing so, the applicant has put into question that original plan which was for a predominance of single storey / 1.5 storey dwellings with an emphasis on two to three-bedroom homes which was deemed suitable to that particular ‘flag lot’ (i.e. a remote building site with a long access road to Lyons road).
Furthermore, the extent of the developer’s financial ‘carrot’ of a new cricket pavilion appears to be a moving target and now linked to the speed of planning consent.
In order that any planning gain coupled with this development (for the benefit of the club and village) is carried to completion, surely a condition on any approval must ensure that all houses will not be occupied before the new cricket pavilion is complete.
The type and density of housing with its consequent effect on traffic (both vehicular and pedestrian), is the most critical consideration as it affects the access road located on the approach to the village.
This important aspect is one recognized In the National Survey of Buildings carried out by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (Buildings of England Sussex: Ian Nairn & Nikolaus Pevsner Page 328-329).
In this volume, he opines on the architectural merit of Slinfold and in particular, to the unique entry into Slinfold:
‘The centre of Slinfold is a short, leafy street which runs up to the church…. After this auspicious beginning, everything else is mellow too.’
This ‘auspicious beginning’ is now at odds with this (revised) outline scheme currently under consideration and is totally at odds with Pevsner’s mellow ‘entrance’ to Slinfold, resulting in an urbanised and desultory change to the very essence of the village. JONATHAN WIMPENNY Chartered Architect The Street, Slinfold