It is recognised that Rather District Council has, hitherto, failed to achieve its targets for its five year supply of Housing land. This is in large measure because a high proportion of planned development in the Bexhill area 9 (the largest proportionate supplier of land in the District) has been dependent upon the construction of the Bexhill Link Road which was not finished until 2015 with consequent housing sites adjacent subject to delayed planning applications and on site starts.

The Submission DaSA seeks to redress the issue through the allocation of both pre-existing and new sites. BEX 9 is a new site. The Submission DaSA as drafted includes an allocation of land for more homes than are required to deliver the target. However, it can also be noted that the figures exclude and contribution from "Large Windfall Sites". Historically such sites have provided an average of 48 homes per year. Rather District Council contends that if they were included then there would be double counting in the figures since any windfall sites would be already in the DaSA preferred site allocation. This is inaccurate. Firstly, the same argument could have been used for the extant Local Plan DaSA, yet the evidence directly contradicts this, and, secondly, a recent planning appeal decision for a site excluded from both the extant Local Plan and the Submission DaSA has resulted in the grant of planning permission for approximately 40 homes (approx because it is an Outline consent) that are not included in the Submission DaSA figure ( Ref: APP/U1430/W/17/3191063).

The conclusion, from the commentary above is that the housing contribution to the Rother target from BEX 9 is not necessary for it to achieve its target. BEX 9 is the most sensitive ecological and environmental site in the DaSA being adjacent (60m) to the UK, European and Internationally protected Site of Special Scientific Interest,
Special Area of Conservation and Ramsar (the Levels). The BEX 9 site slopes directly into and onto the Levels and any uncontrolled pollution or contamination will have an unlawful damaging effect.. The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Court, People over Wind and Sweetman v Collite and Teoranta (April 2018) has defined the need for any proposals for development that would affect or harm SSSI, SACs and Ramsars to be fully researched through comprehensive investigations and site testing before any decision can be reached that shows, beyond reasonable scientific doubt, that no damage will be caused by the proposed development to the protected Levels. Such work has not been carried out for BEX 9, risks are high because of the geographical and topographical relationships between BEX 9 and the Levels, and suggestions for mitigation made as part of the
undecided planning application for 160 homes on the BEX 9 site demonstrate unequivocally that such mitigation would magnify and increase risks, rather than reduce them.

With such sensitivities concerning the protected Levels, the lack of need for the BEX 9 homes to be included in the Rother Targets and the defined risks that any development poses to increase local pollution and contamination (see for ref the Neighbour Letter dated 13th November 2018 on Rother District Council website for the planning application RR/2017/1705/P "Response and Critique of applicant's report to inform an Appropriate Assessment) and it will be clear that BEX 9 should be omitted from the Submission DaSA and that the adjustment to the Local Plan development boundary to henceforth include site BEX 9 should also be removed from that DaSA as being no longer necessary, desirable or appropriate.