I do not think many Old Leigh residents are disappointed about the Bell Hotel plans being axed.

None of us thought a hotel was viable, especially given the minimum provision for parking.

If only developer Robin Levy had worked in collaboration with us in creating a solution for this and the adjacent land. Regrettably, he seems to have thought we’d all be delighted with inappropriately high blocks of flats in an area comprising of small cottages.

Indeed the Secretary of State pointed this out on appeal. Such a contrast to the company which has developed the former Oscars building, which invited residents’ views and held open days.

What I really want to see for the Bell site is cottage type housing much more in keeping with the conservation area.

There is ample room for 15 homes with adequate parking and gardens if cleverly designed. These would contribute to and enhance this neighbourhood and hopefully receive little or no opposition.

The condition of the Bell Hotel has declined considerably since Mr Levy purchased it. Local residents were against the new flats, not the plans for the Bell to accommodate a reasonable number of apartments or flats with adequate or even surplus parking.

If this had been proposed for this landmark building I believe there would have been few objections. We all want to see this area developed, but will fight against inappropriate and unsympathetic applications.

I think there is a lesson to be learned here, and it has nothing to do with nimbyism.

The objectors are local and experience the problems with parking in the area on a daily basis, but we love this neighbourhood.

It is a community and we are fully prepared to see it developed, but who in their right mind would think flats were the solution for a piece of land in the heart of historic Old Leigh?

Is it any wonder Mr Levy is fed up? If he had taken the community with him in the planning stage all this could have been a different story and we’d all be looking out on to a renovated Bell Hotel and no prospect of additional pressure on an already stretched parking problem.

Jane Ward
Church Hill
Leigh