Councillors have agreed to visit a bowls club so that they can find out more about the effects on neighbours of a plan to rebuild and refurbish the premises.
Rottingdean Bowls Club, in Falmer Road, wants to modernise its clubhouse and replace the changing rooms and toilets with a single-storey block. It also wants to put up a small storage building.
Officials turned down a similar scheme last November for one reason, which the club said it had addressed, according to a report to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee.
When the committee met at Hove Town Hall today (Wednesday 7 June), Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Mark Earthey, who represents Rottingdean and West Saltdean, asked for a site visit to the bowling club.
His request was in response to neighbours’ concerns about loss of light and noise nuisance.
Councillor Earthey said that he went along to look at the site but it was not fully accessible so he was unable to assess the effect of the club’s plan on neighbours.
He said: “The site is quite complicated – and I know the area quite well. But I was unable to give it due justice because a lot of that site is inaccessible to the public unless something is formally arranged.
“I do think the residents’ concerns about having their light being reduced is relevant and it would be a good idea if we took up the invitation to go into their properties and experience the loss of light for ourselves. That’s not materially evident from being outside.”
He was also concerned about the effects of the scheme on a shared wall and other listed buildings in the area.
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh lodged a formal objection to the scheme – as have Rottingdean Parish Council and the Brighton and Hove Conservation Advisory Group.
The club said, as part of its planning application, that the existing buildings, dating from the 1970s, were “beyond repair”.
The application is due to be decided at the next meeting of the Planning Committee which is scheduled for Wednesday 5 July.
