Only one Council in the County has an up to date Local Plan in place, Wealden District. This means that most of Sussex is up for grabs unless we stand together to insist that only the right development, in the right place gets planning approval.

CPRE was founded in the 1920s, campaigning for a rural planning system when the argument was already being won for better planning in towns. Housing and other development was springing all over a countryside with no controls. Landowners advertised their plots for unregulated housing development proclaiming ‘Why not build your own house here?’. Buildings were ill designed and often comprised of old railway carriages and pre-fabricated sheds. CPRE Sussex is not anti-development. We want to see well planned development the community needs in a way that involves local people and ensures high quality and good design. But we do not want to see a backwards slide into ‘have a go’ development, allowed only because it purports to bring short term economic returns instead of long term, sustainable growth.

A major local battleground is the continuing insistence by government planning inspectors on the use of top-down regional housing figures, despite the abolition of the South East Plan. Communities in Sussex want to see housing figures produced for their local area, involving people in deciding need and demand, not outdated figures applying to subregional areas not relevant to the locality. We’re also concerned that local authorities rushing to get their Plans in place and in fear of top down figures being foisted upon them, are less inclined towards involving communities working on Neighbourhood Plans or seeking to influence major development. The ‘Duty to Cooperate’ intended for local authorities to ‘share’ their development pressures, seems far from effective and lacks teeth.

So what are we doing about all this? We’ve written to all Sussex MPs, Planning Minister Nick Boles and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles asking for key changes. We want to see an extension to the ‘grace’ period allowed for local authorities to get Plans in place before government policy leaves the gate open for damaging development. Local Plans take up to 3 years to produce under proper democratic process. It’s just common sense that the 12 months allowed isn’t enough .

We want to see the long-dead promises of community control revived and local authorities supported to produce their housing numbers locally. We want to see communities and neighbourhoods at the heart of the planning process so that a Neighbourhood and community-led approach is possible. We want to see the right infrastructure planned in tandem.

We’ve called for the reinstatement of the ‘brownfield first’ policy so that greenfield land is the last resort instead of the easy win. We want to see land banking recognised. Developers riding out the recession by holding onto land means that local authorities can’t count it towards the 5 year supply of housing it must prove is immediately available. We’ve called on the government to allow this land to be counted as land deliverable in the medium and longer term.

The Growth and Infrastructure Bill going through Parliament won’t make it any easier to put housing need at the heart of planning for Sussex. It fast tracks developers’ ability to cut out or reduce the affordable housing they provide if they can make a case on grounds of viability. Whilst public spending on affordable housing is reduced, who is going to fill the gap? If the local Council don’t agree, developers can take their case to central government with the likelihood of a more sympathetic ear.

Proposals in the Bill also give developers the option of having their major housing developments decided by central government if Councils are declared ‘poor performing’. Government may decide to ‘fast track’ damaging major business and commercial developments, pushing out local decision making.

I think the message is clear. It’s the job of us all to make sure that people and the environment come first in planning for Sussex, that’s why we’re here isn’t it?

Georgia Wrighton, Director, CPRE Sussex Countryside Trust