Lewes Coalition

In short, there is a lot to understand!

The decision making process in Lewes is complicated – here is the potted version.

The Town Council is composed of councillors who represent Lewes. Their planning committee only has the power to make recommendations, not decisions.

East Sussex County Council has jurisdiction over some matters – most significantly road and traffic management – which can affect planning decisions.

Lewes District Council is the planning decision making body. It is composed of 11 councillors representing Lewes District (hyperlink to map of area covered by Lewes District Council). Only 2 of these councillors represent Lewes town.

Therefore, the majority of decision-makers on the LDC planning committee do not live in Lewes and may not be familiar with the areas under discussion. They make decisions based on advice from the planning officers supported by the planning documents (which can be viewed by the public on- line and in the planning file in LDC offices)

Planning officers make recommendations based on their understanding of whether a proposed development complies with or contravenes policies adopted by the Council in the Local Plan and planning legislation.

Planning legislation is determined by central government. It is complex, subject to frequent amendment and is generally permissive of development.

Appeals: Financial penalties are imposed on local councils if it can be proved on appeal that they turned down a planning application on insubstantial grounds. This is one reason why everyone involved in the planning process is nervous about turning down applications – mistakes are expensive.

Other factors which influence planning in Lewes are:

Conservation Area guidelines - A Conservation Area is defined by English Heritage as an area of ‘special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’. Much of Lewes Town is designated as a Conservation Area. (http://www.lewes.gov.uk/planning/15660.asp)

A Conservation Officer is on the staff of the LDC and advises the planning committee.

Flood Risk:

The Environment Agency are consulted on flood sensitive sites – if they object to development it cannot be passed, and if they do not object to proposals it is difficult to argue against approval on grounds of flood risk (even if, as was the case on Malling Brooks, local knowledge conflicted with EA assessment)

The long awaited Strategic Flood Risk Assessment has finally been published and now has to be used to guide future decision making. (http://www.lewes.gov.uk/planning/16032.asp)

Local Plan/Local Development Framework

All planning decisions should conform to broader development principles set out in The Local Plan. The Local Plan in Lewes is out of date and in the process of being replaced by the Local Development Framework which is being drawn up in consultation with local communities. Whilst some regions have already produced LDFs, Lewes is behind on the process, and with the recent change of government there is some uncertainty about whether the process will still be valid. It is essential that LDC updates The Local Plan in order to gain greater control of planning for the future in Lewes

Section 106 money is an agreed allocation of funding that developers contribute to an identified aspect of the infrastructure, for which they have
generated a need by their development- it is a condition for permission to build. More homes means there’s a need for more school places, more roads etc. Sometimes this is consolidated into a single project like a playground in a public park. This does not always happen (cf Ringmer cycle path) – and developers can claim it back if it is not spent.

Gone are the days when local councils built their own council housing.

Now all ‘affordable’ housing is built by external providers such as housing associations or private developers.

Currently, developments of under 15 units do not have to include any affordable housing. The present ratio is 25%. There are proposals to raise this to 40% and reduce the threshold to 6 units.

Developments over 16 units should include 25%-40% affordable units. These should be ‘pepper- potted’ – ie interspersed with private units.

It is in the developer’s interest to minimise the number of affordable units in order to maximise profit. But they can be excused providing any affordable housing if the site is difficult – and therefore more expensive – to develop. In those circumstances Councils have to negotiate hard to secure any social housing.

Affordable housing can be very expensive – shared ownership units are part sold, part rented: monthly costs can be equivalent to a mortgage.

Fair Rented housing is rarely produced by developers unless they are working in partnership with a housing association which can draw funding for it from The Home and Communities Agency (http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/)

Lewes District Council could be more creative in its approach to providing housing to meet local needs:  it could explore alternatives such as HCA kickstart initiatives or housing co-operatives on sites that it owns and be more robust in its insistence that private developers address local needs for a variety of affordable housing rather than producing expensive small units