Plans for 25 new homes in the heart of Lewes will be considered on Wednesday next week, June 25.

The 0.6 hectare application site comprises the former gardens and land behind Lewes House on School Hill.

It is bounded by Broomans Lane to the east and Church Twitten to the west, and is flanked by a listed wall on the western side.

Ash Mill Lewes Ltd is seeking to build 16 houses and nine flats, together with associated open space, car parking, access and landscaping, in the latest application for the site.

It was the subject of an amended application in 2007 for 59 residential units, of which 24 would be affordable housing. This has been constructed between Church Twitten and Walwers Lane and is now fully occupied.

The general needs housing on the Lewes House part of the site was not constructed and has remained vacant.

In terms of scale, massing and layout, the proposal is very similar to the approved planning application, officers said.

Their report states: “It is considered the amended proposal conserves the character and appearance of the conservation area and the setting of neighbouring listed buildings. Overall there is considered to be an improvement in the quality of the proposed development on this site.

“It is considered preferable that the current application be approved and implemented over the previously approved application. The opportunity should not be lost to allow a better quality scheme on this site.”

But the South DownsSociety recommends that the application be refused. It said: “The detailing of the buildings is unsympathetic to the design of the historic twittens, even in a modern idiom. The applicant’s choice of brown bricks with pink hued tiles is poor in this location: brown bricks are not found in Lewes.”