Decision due on new Eastbourne Aldi in Sovereign Harbour alongside care home and retirement apartments

Next Monday (August 21), Eastbourne Borough Council’s planning committee is set to consider three applications seeking to develop Site 7a in Sovereign Harbour, a strip of land between Pacific Drive and Pevensey Bay Road.

Between them, the applications seek permission to build a 66-bed care home, a building containing 57 retirement-living apartments and a new Aldi supermarket on three adjoining sites.

All three schemes — and particularly the Aldi proposals — have proven to be controversial among local residents, with more than 700 objections having been submitted across the separate applications

Objectors are particularly concerned about the impact the development could have on highways, arguing it would increase traffic and create an unacceptable level of congestion. To counteract this, objectors argue all three sites should be accessed via Pevensey Bay Road, rather than Pacific Drive.

However, this concern is not shared by East Sussex Highways, which has not raised any objections to the proposals and deems the access to be suitable.

In a report to be considered by the committee, Eastbourne planning officers note that the land has long been allocated for employment use in local planning policy. As a mix of retail and residential the proposed schemes would not fit with this allocation.

But, officers also note that no alternative proposals have ever come forward and the developments would be expected to create upwards of 50 jobs.

As a result, planning officers are recommending that the schemes each be approved in principle, with the final details (including a legal agreement) to be signed off through delegated powers.