Ticehurst Parish Council would urge RDC to protect commercial premises. The loss of retail outlets in Ticehurst will encourage people to use the new supermarket at Hawkhurst and thus deprive the local shops of vital custom. Any attempt to alter retail/business premises to residential should be resisted. A degree is skepticism with regard to non-profit justification for applications for change of use should be used. Extortionate rents by landlords can lead to empty premises and an application to alter to residential results in a profit for the owner and loss to the community. Hodders Yard in Stonegate was a prime example of this - a commercial offer which would have resulted in a community shop was turned down and the change of use to residential now approved means that the potential of a heart to the centre of Stonegate has been lost.