During a meeting on Monday evening (October 5), Adur District Council’s planning committee took less than 30 minutes to reject the application for Penhill Court, in Penhill Road. Stephen Chipp (Con, Southwick Green) said the flats were already ‘overbearing’, adding: “An additional two storeys on top of that cannot be anything other than excessive development.” David Balfe (Lab, Eastbrook) agreed, calling the plans ‘out of proportion’ and ‘not appropriate’ for the area. The committee heard from a trio of speakers who live in Penhill Court and raised questions about whether the 60-year-old block would be able to cope with another two floors. One told members that there were already a list of problems with the building such as plans to replace the roof being put on hold, balconies being deemed ‘extremely dangerous’, drains which could not cope and garages which were too small for some modern cars. While those problems were not planning concerns, the fact the site is close to Shoreham Airport was an issue. Planning manager Gary Peck said: “This has been submitted under the Prior Approval procedure, which is a set of new rules that came in during the summer, set down by government, that lessens the restrictions on adding additional storeys to buildings such as this. “However, if such buildings are within 3km of an aerodrome, then full planning permission is required.” Mr Peck told the committee that the applicant could resubmit the plans but that would give the council more scope for raising concerns about things such as the design and appearance of the extra flats. As such, their reasons to refuse it would actually be stronger. The application was refused unanimously. The applicant has been approached for comment.