While Aldi’s plans for a new store on Winchelsea Road continue to grab headlines, what’s happening with the derelict land on Ferry Road in Rye which has also been targeted by rival supermarkets and is now home to a proposed housing development?
There are currently plans for 88 residential units at 23 Ferry Road, the former Thomas Peacocke lower school site behind the Queen Adelaide pub. Plans were submitted to Rother District Council (RDC) by developers Plutus in January 2024 (RR/2024/1/P).
There continue to be outstanding issues, with objections from the Environment Agency and additional objections, submitted in June 2025, from Network Rail, as well as RDC.
Network Rail Town Planning (Southern) objected to the plans citing the proximity of the development to the Ferry Road level crossing and the risks to safety this could cause. They stated the position of the development could result in traffic blocking the crossing because of queueing, and drivers turning left out of the site might not see the warning lights before the barriers were lowered.
Network Rail also raised concerns the increased usage by more vulnerable residents from the proposed retirement flats and the narrowness of the pavement at the crossing could result in pedestrians blocking it.
The Environment Agency initially objected to the plans in March 2024 saying “there is insufficient evidence to support that the proposed development will be safe”, and that “there had been an absence of acceptable flood risk assessment (FRA).” The EA’s detailed reasons for this conclusion include the loss of an existing drainage ditch and the raising of the ground level impeding water storage.
The developer submitted amended drainage reports and FRA in August and December 2024, and January 2025, which the Agency did not accept. In a letter dated February 12 2025, it continued to object to the development saying it requires “an assessment of the impact of the loss of floodplain storage for a fluvial event… We require a calculation to show that there is no loss of storage and consequently no increase in off-site flood risk.” The EA also said evidence is required from the developers that in the event of a tidal breach the development would not increase flood risk elsewhere.
There has been no recent submissions on the RDC planning portal from the developers in response to the objections. Plutus has been approached for comment.
There are also objections concerning the lack of social housing on the site. In December 2023 amended plans were submitted to Rother District Council explaining that including affordable housing in the proposed development was no longer financially viable. Six month later an independent report disagreed, saying the developers were wrong not to include social housing in their updated planning application.
Image Credits: James Stewart , Rye News Library .