HS/FA/26/00093, West Hill Cafe

Recommended · This went to the meeting on Wed 16 Sep 2026. What was decided is in that meeting's minutes.

Officers have recommended that the Planning Committee grant full planning permission for demolition of the existing West Hill Cafe and toilets and their redevelopment into a single-storey visitor centre with a cafe, restaurant, bar, takeaway, gallery and retail space, and reprovision of toilets. p1p9

The application was previously considered by the Planning Committee on 8 July 2026, when members previously supported granting permission subject to conditions and a legal agreement to secure a Biodiversity Net Gain monitoring fee; the proposal has not changed since then. p5

Because this is a council application on council-owned land, officers say legal advice now recommends securing the biodiversity monitoring fee through a planning condition instead of a legal agreement. p6

The report also notes a published update to the National Planning Policy Framework, which officers say does not change their assessment, and amendments to the trigger points of conditions 5 and 9. p7p8

Two objection comments and one petition of objection with 23 signatures were received, along with one comment in support. p4p95

Show the 8 passages this is based on

• p1AGENDA ITEM NO: 5(a) Report to: PLANNING COMMITTEE Date of Meeting: 16 September 2026 Report from: Planning Services Manager Application address: West Hill Cafe, Castle Hill Road, Hastings, TN34 3RD Proposal: Demolition of the existing café and toilets and redevelopment to form a single storey visitor centre with café, restaurant and bar, takeaway, gallery/interpretation zones, retail (mixed use Class E and Class F1) and reprovision of toilets on the site of the existing West Hill Café.
• p4Application No: HS/FA/26/00093 Recommendation: Grant Full Planning Permission Ward: CASTLE Conservation Area: Yes - Old Town Listed Building: Grade II Applicant: Troika Projects Limited per Poroban Limited 43 Madron Street London SE17 2LE Public Consultation Site notice: Yes Press advertisement: Yes - Affects a Listed Building Neighbour Letters: No People objecting: 2 Petitions of objection received: 1 People in support: 1 Petitions of support received: 0 Neutral comments received: 0 Application status: Not delegated - Petition contrary to officer recommendation received Council application on Council owned land.
• p5Update This application was previously considered by Planning Committee on 08 July 2026, where members resolved to grant planning permission subject to conditions and the completion of a legal agreement to secure the Biodiversity Net Gain monitoring fee. The proposal before members remains identical to that previously considered. There have been no changes to the description of the development, the proposed plans or the supporting documents.
• p6At the July Committee, the monitoring fee was proposed to be secured through a legal agreement, which is standard practice. However, as this is a Council-led application on Council-owned land, subsequent legal advice has been received which advises that such an approach would add unnecessary legal and administrative time and cost without materially improving the security of the monitoring arrangements. In ordinary third-party applications, Biodiversity Net Gain monitoring fees would normally be secured through a legal agreement rather than by planning condition, as planning conditions are not generally the appropriate mechanism for securing financial contributions. However, in this circumstance where the Council would be paying itself, this can adequately be secured by pre-commencement condition (48).
• p7Additionally, since the July Committee, a revised National Planning Policy Framework has been published. The application has been reviewed against the updated Framework and officers confirm that the revised NPPF does not alter the assessment previously reported to Members. The relevant planning considerations remain as set out previously, however, references within the report to paragraphs within the NPPF have been updated to reflect the new Framework.
• p8Finally, the trigger points of conditions 5 and 9 have been amended so they better reflect the development requirements of the project: condition 5 has been amended so that the required details must be submitted and approved before the commencement of any 'above ground works', rather than before any development commences; and condition 9, relating to vertical sections and design detailing, has been amended so that the required details must be submitted and approved before development proceeds above foundation/slab level, rather than before the commencement of all development.
• p9It is therefore recommended that members grant full planning permission subject to the attached conditions.
• p951 Petition of Objection with 23 signatures (including the lead petitioner) which raises the following points: