Ending the developers’ free-for-all – draft local plan unveiled

Press release from the Alliance for Wealden, a working partnership between elected members of the Liberal Democrat Party and Green Party that is administering Wealden District Council. Released 19 Jan 2024.

 

PRESS RELEASE: ENDING THE CHAOS: Draft Plan Unveiled!

Finally, after years of failure and delay by the previous administration, the new Alliance for Wealden is bringing a draft Local Plan to the public for your feedback.

On 22nd January 2024, Wealden District Council published the first draft of the far-too-long-awaited Local Plan. This will be debated by the Full Council on February 8th, and if approved will go out to public consultation from early March.

The Local Plan sets out the framework for where development should and importantly should not take place across the District.

Whilst inevitably some people may not like particular details of this Local Plan, we strongly believe that it is far better to have a Local Plan, which gives residents much greater control and certainty, than continue with the “developers’ free-for-all” we have had for the last decade or more.

It has been our aim to strike a balance between the government’s requirement for growth and protecting what the people who live here value most. Of the 600 plus sites submitted by landowners and developers for consideration, over 80% have been deemed inappropriate for development. Currently around 6% land in Wealden is built on. This Plan will see that rise to around 7%, over a 15 year period. New housing allocations in the local plan represent a land take of less than 0.5% of the local plan area.

We have prioritised:

• radically improved environmental standards and design for new buildings, reducing energy consumption and setting net zero standards, responding better to climate change, promoting renewables and reducing water consumption
• greater protection for nature, including: enhanced buffers for ancient woodland, greater protection for trees, woodlands and hedgerows, the highest levels of protection for AONB (National Landscapes) and Pevensey Levels, biodiversity net gain requirements of 20% (twice the national requirement)
• housing which responds better to local need with more homes with 2 or 3 bedrooms, a greater percentage of affordable homes, support for community land trusts and specialist and older person housing.
• Support for local economy and thriving town centres in particular agriculture and tourism.

The government’s housing target for Wealden is 1200 houses per year. The previous Conservative administration dragged their feet and then failed to get that 2019 plan adopted. They believed that they could persuade their government to reduce housing targets. Minister Gove’s announcement on December 19th 2023 made clear that their lobbying attempts had failed. The target remains. They promised there would not be a developer-lead free-for-all, right across the District. That is precisely what happened.

National rules around National Landscapes (AONB) protect large parts of Wealden from development and mean that we cannot meet the government’s target in full, but we have to allow as many homes as possible towards the target, and that means that some villages and towns will change considerably. We have done all we can to ensure that this growth is sustainable, within the limitations of our infrastructure and that we protect our countryside as much as possible.

We hope that residents will give us their views, and submit feedback to the consultation, we will send out further information when the consultation goes live.

There will be public meetings and consultation events across the District, where residents can ask questions of officers and the Alliance leadership, and share their views. We will be hosting these in Crowborough, Uckfield, Horam, East Hoathly, Frant, Polegate, Hailsham and Heathfield. We hope to see many of you there!

Cllr James Partridge, Leader of Wealden District Council says: “Wealden has not had an approved full Local Plan since 1998. Even the delay since the failure to put a plan in place in 2019 has shown us the price of not having a proper Local Plan: unmanaged and inappropriate development that does not meet the needs of our communities, constant planning battles, appeal fees and uncertainty for everyone. It really is time to end the chaos.”

Cllr Ian Tysh, Lead Member for Planning and Development says: “A new Local Plan will enable us to raise the environmental standards of new buildings and ensure more 2 and 3 bedroom homes for local residents. It will also protect more land than with the current developers’ free-for-all. However, we still have to work within the tight constraints of the national government's planning system, which prioritises large profits for developers as its single most important factor. If we could, the Alliance for Wealden would start from the other end,  prioritising what is best for communities."

Cllr Rachel Millward, Deputy Leader of Wealden District Council says: "We know that planning is the single biggest concern for residents across Wealden, and so it is time people are consulted on the Plan that will guide future decisions. It’s an awful lot to digest, and the rules are complex, so we hope many residents will come along to one of our public events to ask us questions about it. We also hope that as many people as possible make their feelings heard and contribute to the process by formally commenting on the plan – more details will be published in the coming weeks setting out how to do this and how to get assistance if you need it.”

Wealden, 19th January 2024