Lewes supports Neighbourhood Plan
July 23, 2019
Amy Tyler-Jones, Senior Planning Policy Officer, gives an update on Neighbourhood Plans, including the referendum held in Lewes.
Fifty five communities across the National Park have taken up the opportunity to prepare Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDP) for their local area.
NDPs offers an opportunity for communities to develop a shared vision for their community and create detailed planning policies to be used in assessing planning applications in their area. East Dean and Friston and Greatham parishes are the latest communities to begin neighbourhood planning and have had their areas designated as Neighbourhood Areas for the purposes of preparing a NDP.
Other communities have been working on their NDPs for several years and, to date, 27 have successfully been through the process and now have made (adopted) NDPs.
The most recent NDP to be made is the Lewes NDP. Having successfully passed independent examination, the Lewes NDP was put to the people of Lewes on 7 March for community referendum. There was resounding support for the plan, with 92% of voters voting in favour of the plan.
The Lewes NDP is distinctively “Lewesian”, addressing issues that are a priority for Lewes and have been identified from consultation with the community, including low-cost housing, making Lewes more sustainable and preserving the working character of the town.
The Lewes NDP is also innovative in its approach as it uses an ecosystem approach – identifying the benefits gained from nature, valuing these benefits and building them into planning and decision making. The ecosystem approach is woven through the Lewes NDP, by integrating into its vision and objectives and with a chapter on the environment which includes policies on natural capital and biodiversity – seeking a net gain in both from any development.
There are also policies on resilience against flood risk, sustainable urban drainage, local green space, sustainable tourism, active travel (e.g. cycling and walking) and public transport. In addition, each potential housing development site includes a short ecosystem design response to clarify, for planners and developers, how environmental policies apply to the site and how natural capital and biodiversity may be enhanced on site.
The ecosystem approach taken by the Lewes NDP is very much in line with the new South Downs Local Plan which is also embedded with an ecosystems approach.
With many NDPs reaching the final stages of preparation and more and more plans being made, focus is increasingly on the implementation of NDPs. The SDNPA will be holding workshops later in the year, for parishes with made NDPs, on how their plans will be used and implemented.