Object

Development Management Plan Revised Proposed Submission Version March 2014

Representation ID: 5774

Received: 22/04/2014

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Representation Summary:

As the Convent is a major component of the Magdalen Road Conservation Area, both the northern and southern spaces are deserving of designation as Private Open Space.

The present proposals are a clear breach of your Objective 3.

But please read the whole thing.

Full text:

The Convent (Magdalen Road) has an inconsistency in the treatment by HBC of its two main spaces. One is defined as Private Open Space but not the other, the one that includes the playing fields. As the Convent is a major component of the Magdalen Road Conservation Area, both the northern and southern spaces are deserving of designation as Private Open Space.

The present proposals are a clear breach of your Objective 3.

Here is what Nick Antram [aka 'Pevsner'] wrote for HBC in 2007:
'The key open space is the land associated with the former convent on Magdalen Road. Although this is private space it reads as a significant open space in the conservation area and combines with White Rock Pleasure Grounds etc to form an important green lung separating urban St Leonards from urban Hastings. It is a striking feature of the wider urban conglomeration that the topography of White Rock, the East and West Hills bring the countryside into the towns and define the urban areas, St Leonards, Hastings and Hastings Old Town. Along the entire east side of Magdalen Road the open space behind the sandstone wall predominates and trees along this boundary are also important, notably Holm oaks.'

Furthermore, it's unfortunate that the Inset Map of Central St Leonards did not include White Rock Gardens, which are part of Central St Leonards Ward.