Block of Haywards Heath retirement apartments next to railway line approved

The application from McCarthy Stone to redevelop the Maxwelton House site, in Boltro Road, was given the nod by members of the planning committee on Thursday (February 16).

The approved building will be seven storeys high in places with the lower ground floor including a reception area and a communal lounge area with outdoor seating.

There will be an under-croft for nine vehicles with a further 25 parking spaces to the rear of the site, 13 of which will include electric vehicle charging points.

The building will also be fitted with solar panels.

In 2021, the council approved an application to build 54 flats on the site.

This meant that the principle of development had been established and it would have been tricky for the committee to refuse the latest plans.

While members agreed unanimously that the application should be approved, one councillor had a few words to say about the interior layout.

Phillip Coote (Con, Crawley Down & Turners Hill) said: “I’m not going to be rude but it does remind me of a chicken coop.

“It’s sort of ‘well you’ve reached a certain age, [we’ll] plonk you in here until you’re ready to move off’.

“I just think it lacks any sort of sensitivity – it doesn’t fill me full of enthusiasm.”

That point aside, the only other issue which raised the odd eyebrow was the number of parking spaces.

Colin Trumble (Con, Hurstpierpoint & Downs) suggested that planning guidelines recommended almost double the amount allocated.

And he worried that the council wasn’t living in ‘the real world’ when it came to understanding that, yes, even older people liked to drive cars.

Referring to a previous development in his ward which included no parking for residents, he told the meeting that the occupants of one of the new flats had four cars.

Clearly worried that something similar would happen here, Mr Trumble added: “We live beyond the looking glass sometimes, I really think we do, and don’t recognise what actually happens in the real world.

“We wish that things would happen.”