I consider that this development is entirely inappropriate for the site and that it is not required to meet the required number of residential units in the RDC overall DaSA Local Plan.

The Local Plan should take into account the number of 'windfall properties' per year that occur in the Bexhill area. Over a 10 year period these could easily more than match the number of properties proposed for this site.

I believe that all major residential development sites in the area should be situated so that it mitigates any significant increase in traffic over the road system in Rother and in particular the A259 where in the Little Common area the current traffic flow rates are already higher than recommended and this is before currently approved developments are built. The adoption of Option 3 for Policy BX124 would give more housing in much closer proximity to the proposed increases in business floorspace and give better road ac.cess

The housing in the area of the proposed site is almost exclusively low density detached properties. To erect 160 new properties on a site of this size would totally change the nature of the area; considerably increase the already unacceptably high traffic flow rates in the local area, in particular Meads Road, Cooden Sea Road, the Little Common roundabout and the A259; have a detrimental on the visual impact of the area; and affect the local wild life.

This site has very poor access, the end of Spindlewood Drive where it meets Meads Road would have to deal with approximately 400% more traffic as the number of houses it would be serving would go from 40 to 200. Meads Road is in poor condition and effectively single lane due to local parking requirements for residents and shop workers. The junction of Meads Road and Cooden Sea Road is often obstructed by parked cars and delivery lorries and can only just about deal with the present level of traffic.

The other road from the Spindlewood Drive - Meads Road junction, Maple Walk is unadopted and any increase in traffic on this road is totally unacceptable to its residents. A section of Maple Walk is very narrow has only a short length with pavements and is used by walkers and mobility scooters. In some parts of the road the only way to let vehicles past walkers is by going onto private property which works at present but does they do not have the permission to do this by the house owners. At the current usage level things just about work, any increase in traffic could lead to a serious accident.

The traffic note submitted by the would-be developer of the site is totally incredible, if anybody believes that 160 new residential units will have an 'immaterial' impact on the amount of traffic in the area and in particular Meads Road and Cooden Sea Road they are clearly very mistaken and the statistics have been manipulated to show the result that the developer wanted, not what will happen in practice.

I have concerns about the environmental impact of this proposed development. The Ecological Appraisal submitted by the developer cannot be fully commented on due to the redactions in it. I also noted that the company that wrote this report retained its copyright - why? There are no assurances that any recognition of the ecological sensitivity of the site and its surrounding area will be properly addressed, only recommendations. There is no statement that the proposed developer will take any of them on-board. Of particular note is that the proposed plan includes a play area in the middle of the central nature corridor, surely the two cannot be on the same piece of land. There is no mention of the Starling murmerations that regularly occur over this site.

In addition there should be a full water survey made to ensure that the current water levels are maintained both during and after any development of this type of site to ensure that there is no damage to the flora and fauna in the surrounding area.