Camber car park: gains vs losses

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Looking through the various recent planning applications on Rother District Council’s website www.rother.gov.uk I was interested to read about application ref RR/2021/2947/P which relates to the former putting green site owned by Rother District Council on Old Lydd Road in Camber.

Looking through the detailed history of the application, the current proposal is to turn what is now a pay and display car park into a development of 10 houses, 4 of which are to be affordable. The application has met with a lot of opposition from local residents for a variety of reasons but predominantly because in their opinion, they don’t want to lose the car park capable of parking up to 70 vehicles, which is felt to be a greater asset than a development of 10 houses.

The temporary carpark to be developed.

We all know how congested Camber gets during the summer months. It’s a fantastic place to visit with some of the best beaches in the country, so you can’t blame visitors for wanting to come there, but they need facilities and they need to park safely without inconveniencing or exasperating local residents. Understandably, losing a carpark with this capacity won’t help the parking problem.

On the flipside, there is a need for affordable housing in the local area and if the application is approved, it is subject to a legally binding section 106 agreement which secures the element of affordable housing. Of the six remaining units (which I have assumed will be sold on the open market when completed) the price they are likely to be, whether they are affordable for people locally or if they will end up being sold to investors as buy to let prospects or holiday/second homes, only time will tell.

The four one-bedroom affordable homes to be built “must be discounted by a minimum of 30% against the market value” to qualify as affordable but, will locals be able to afford the affordable housing even with this discount?

The Site plan of the proposed development

The site, once developed will generate a CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) of approximately £104,215 for Rother District Council and a New Homes bonus of approximately £72,440. The site is owned by Rother District Council.

The Community Infrastructure Levy allows local authorities in England and Wales to raise funds from developers undertaking new building projects in their area to fund a wide range of infrastructure that is needed to support new development. This includes transport schemes, schools, flood defences, hospitals and other health and social care facilities, parks, green spaces, leisure centres and other community and cultural facilities. As almost all development has some impact on the need for infrastructure, services and amenities, this tariff-based approach is seen as an effective, quicker and fairer framework to fund new infrastructure to support growth.

In 1983 this site was granted planning approval for 9, two-storey dwellings (RR/83/1886) then in 2003, planning was granted for a new café, restaurant and retail centre (RR/2003/42/P) and in 2009 permission was granted for the temporary use as a carpark (RR/2009/48/P) so the site is no stranger to planning applications.

It seems likely that the most recent application will be approved, subject to the section 106 agreement and a host of accompanying conditions. The recommendation has now been resolved to grant planning permission under delegated powers and the final decision will be published soon.

It was interesting to read one of the comments published by the parish council stating their concerns about the current drainage problems in the area and that the exiting system is not fit for purpose. In their opinion, the addition of any additional properties to the public sewer is likely to exacerbate the situation unless the existing drainage infrastructure is upgraded.

The flooded central carpark

Their concerns may well be very valid, as when I drove past the site and turned round in the central car park at the end of Old Lydd Road I couldn’t believe the amount of surface water which had settled on the carpark (see photo above) rendering about 30% of it unusable at the moment. What the reason is for the small lake in the carpark I know not – blocked drains (sand?), poor maintenance or just excessive rainfall, but whatever the reason there is currently an issue. When the warmer weather finally arrives this problem should ease, hopefully.

It does make you question the gains and losses as a result of this development going ahead once planning permission has been granted, which now seems inevitable.

Image Credits: Nick Forman , Courtesy of Rother District Council .

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7 COMMENTS

  1. I’m sure the Rye shop owners would love to see the 25000 plus visitors that can come to Camber on a hot, sunny day, but even Rye’s car parks couldn’t cope with that number of associates vehicles. Rye’s roads get blocked with these vehicles trying to get to Camber, and in the last few years, the road from Lydd also gets blocked. All these vehicles are trying to disgorge their occupants on to the beach, therefore ANY loss of car parking space should be and is a concern for the locals as well as the village of Rye because those 70 vehicles that can’t park next to the beach will be stuck in traffic, possibly in Rye. If the article writer is worried about the loss of affordable housing, lets talk about having some in the development on the Lower School site, or perhaps building some on the old school site in New Road, a perfect site for housing, or on the Tilling Green site, these are all sites perfect for affordable housing. Most of the time councils are ‘bought off’ by the developers, so that either less or none of the required affordable housing ever gets built. Oh, and if you’re bothered about global warming, those vehicles stuck in traffic have to switch off their engines on/off option, so that they can keep air condition running.

  2. As a member of Rother’s Planning Committee which passed this on Thursday I was very happy with the proposal. Despite what is feared by the author the Environment Agency does not consider there is a flood risk. This is a high quality development incorporating affordable housing for local people.
    The local District Councillor, Paul Osborne, spoke in favour of the development and noted that one of Rother’s car parks has been restructured to accommodate additional vehicles, compensating for the lost parking.

    • If it’s shared ownership it would be about 80% of market value. Otherwise it could be social rented at a discount to the going rate.

  3. I read on the BBC SouthEast website that the charges for use of Camber’s Central Car Park will increase to a fixed £30 per day from 1st April. Is this true? If so, what will this do for congestion in the village which has already reached impossible levels in the summer months?

  4. Having read the article stating the increased parking fee of £30.00 per day, I’m inclined to agree with those who express concern about visitors being unwilling to pay this. As stated, it could result in those drivers trying to leave the car park and causing a back up of traffic, and their trying to park elsewhere – most probably illegally. If the inconsiderate drivers were causing such problems before the increase, they are highly likely to do so even more afterwards. Policing en route could help to clarify and assist visitors wishing to park, but what’s the likelihood of that happening?

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