Rottingdean Bowls Club 

Client: Private 

Local Planning Authority: Brighton & Hove City Council 

An application was submitted at Rottingdean Bowls Club to replace the existing changing room building and build a side extension to the existing Club House to provide new changing rooms, toilets and an equipment store.  The proposal also involved replacing an existing toilet block with a new men's toilet and a cleaner room with an air source heat pump, and some other minor works.  Our client, who lived directly behind the bowls club, asked us to review the application and whether we would be able to prepare an objection on their behalf.

The existing changing room building is located within a couple of metres of our client's properties.  It is 2.66 metres tall with a flat roof and so the current impact on our client is limited. The proposed extension to the Club House would have had a much larger pitched roof resulting in a building that would have been 4.75 metres tall in the same position as the existing changing room building. We therefore focused our objection on the unacceptable impact of the development on the amenities of clients, clearly demonstrating that the proposal would fail to comply with the relevant policies from the adopted development plan. We also took a detailed assessment of the impact of the development on the Rottingdean Conservation Area, nearby listed buildings and other non-designated heritage assets, alongside highway’s implications. 

Despite general support from consultees, the application was refused by the delegated Planning Officer for the following reason: ‘The proposed works to the changing room and its roof would, by reason of excessive height and very close proximity to neighbouring properties in [redacted], be overbearing and result in loss of outlook for occupiers of those properties, and would represent unneighbourly development’. 

We are pleased to have helped our client prevent the development from taking place next door, which would have had an adverse impact on their quality of living and believe that our input was highly valuable in the application's refusal.

Before we agree to prepare an objection for a client, we always ensure that the objection is a defensible position to take in our professional judgement.  This means we often decline to act against developments but does mean that the vast majority of applications/appeals that we do act against are refused.

If you would like to submit a representation on a planning application, either supporting or objecting, get in touch with Squires Planning to see how we can help.

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