Old railway allotment site

The development of land at the old railway allotments continues to cause consternation among residents – with concerns about:

• breach of s.106 agreement, which sets a planning condition that no slow worms should be harmed
• breach of the wall adjacent the footpath for site access – which is not part of the development site
• safety of users of the station and using the bridge for access between Springfield Road and Ditchling Rise

The matter was discused in detail at our Drara meeting this week.

Following reperesentations from the community on both sides of the tracks, a slow worm survey is now underway to check for any remaining reptiles – who may have survived excavations to date. Residents affiliated to Drara and Srara are busy researching issues around the development to ensure any work going forward is legal, safe and has minimal additional impact on our local environment.