Neighbour fears work to turn disused farm into Royal Mail depot would be a nightmare

Works to turn a disused farm into a Royal Mail depot would be a nightmare, a neighbour has said.

Christine Mallows, 73, has lived in her home, in Vale Avenue, Patcham, for 28 years. She is worried about the effects of demolishing buildings at Patcham Court Farm and the noise and disruption if the proposed Royal Mail distribution centre plans are approved.

Mrs Mallows first heard about the scheme from Patcham and Hollingbury Conservative councillor Anne Meadows three years ago.

Initially, she feared losing her home, which is part of the farm tenancy, but was assured that her house was safe.

She enjoys the quiet living on the edge of the countryside and worries about the future of the area’s wildlife such as bats, voles and birds. She also worries about her three cats dealing with the prospect of more traffic.

It would be a nightmare, she said, having all the cars and lorries coming and going and the noise from horns and reversing alerts.

As her garden backs on to the farm site, Mrs Mallows is worried that she would not be able to enjoy it if a light industrial estate is built next door.

Mrs Mallows said: “There’s going to be quite a lot of noise when it goes up. I can see the farm from my bedroom window. There’ll be no hiding this because it’ll be above the trees.

“If they crash and bang all through the night, it’s going to be me with no sleep, with lorries going up and down and shouting.”

Councillor Meadows said that there would also be the noise of the roller doors opening and closing.

She said: “When we come into Vale Avenue, coming off the motorway (A27), that’s the roundabout where most of our accidents happen.

“I now understand they’ll mostly come in from the A27. When I first suggested that I was told off as it was too expensive. It’s not possible. Now it is apparently possible.

“Those huge lorries will be coming out opposite the little triangle, they’re 17ft, imagine them trying to get around when people are whizzing off the motorway.”

Councillor Meadows is concerned about the effects of the scheme on Mrs Mallows’s health, particularly during the demolition and construction phase with dust going into the air.

She is also concerned about the effects on with wider area such as residents’ parking.

There are already issues with long-term parking with people leaving their vehicles to get buses to Gatwick, or using Patcham as a “park and ride “on the 5B.

Royal Mail first submitted its planning application to demolish the farm buildings and build a distribution centre at the site in July 2022.

The proposals have gone through various revisions, the most recent a few months ago in April, to deal with various issues including transport, highways and flooding concerns.

Brighton and Hove City Council owns the farm close to the junction of the A23 and A27.

Councillors were due to discuss offering the site to Royal Mail on a long lease in July 2022 but put off making any decision at the last minute.

Talks between the council and Royal Mail are still under way but the council will not reveal how much it is seeking for the lease because the negotiations are commercially sensitive.

Using the site instead of the Royal Mail’s premises in Denmark Villas, in Hove, and North Road, in Brighton, is expected to free up land for housing.

Campaigners remain concerned about the potential effects of intensive building at the site on the chalk water aquifer that supplies much of Brighton and Hove with fresh water.

They also said that Patcham’s Victorian sewers were already overwhelmed during heavy rain.

So far, 1,149 objections have been sent to the council and 13 supporting comments.

The application is due to go before the council’s planning committee on Wednesday, September 4.