Monday 25 November 2013

Media release: ADUR DISTRICT COUNCIL URGED TO U-TURN ON GREENFIELD SPRAWL

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) Sussex, has responded to the proposed Adur District Council revised strategic plan asking the Council to look again at its proposals for major development on sensitive sites in the area, which it says will damage precious countryside and increase pressure on areas prone to flooding.

23 November 2013

Campaign to Protect Rural England National Office has issued guidance on the national approach to shale gas extraction [See: Debate on fracking must proceed with caution to protect our countryside]. CPRE Sussex will be considering its implications and local application to energy company applications for test drilling licences within Sussex that may involve the process known as fracking.

This year’s Awards Ceremony will take place in October at Firle Place in East Sussex.

The ceremony will celebrate the work that local groups and communities have put into improving the landscape, rural enterprise and support for local food across Sussex.

Twelve projects have been shortlisted and are being visited during the Summer.

20 November 2013

Mid Sussex District Council faced what was described as a “Kangaroo court” as it tried to defend its District Plan at an Examination in Public last week. At the first public meeting of the Mid Sussex District play, held at Oakhurst, the Council was giving evidence on a technicality called the ‘Duty to Cooperate’ which is a new requirement under the Localism Act.

The new Act was meant to give local people a greater say on housing, yet among those grilling the Council were representatives from 12 property companies, all of which have a vested interest in the plan’s failure. The Inspector is now considering the evidence before giving his verdict next week. If he rejects it then it will have to be redrawn, allowing developers a window of opportunity to build on unprotected Greenfield sites in the area, and landing local tax payers with the extra cost of producing a new plan.

This is our current map of planning threats in Sussex - last updated October 2015

PLEASE NOTE. This map is indicative; all information is supplied by volunteers, friends and members of the public. We attempt to check all data supplied, however we cannot guarantee all the information is up to date or accurate. Some pins may be inaccurately placed because of incomplete postcode data supplied. If you spot something that is wrong, please let us know by following the link at the bottom oft he page.

Move the map by clicking on it and moving your mouse. To view this map full screen, click on the Full Screen symbol at the top right of the map:  

Updated Jan 19 2015

This map is created by our members and other visitors to this website. Please keep us up to date by notifying us of planning threats near where you live. That way we can all be aware how planning issues are affecting the whole of our region.

CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND (SUSSEX) and LAMBS: MEDIA RELEASE

Monday 18 November 2013

LOCALISM FLOUNDERS IN SUSSEX

The Government’s much criticised Localism Act could be about to stumble at its first hurdle in Sussex.

Mid Sussex District Council faced what was described as a “Kangaroo court” as it tried to defend its District Plan at an Examination in Public last week. The Council was giving evidence on a technicality called the ‘Duty to Cooperate’ which is a new requirement under the Localism Act.

Lewes Core Strategy Update

The progress of the Lewes District Core Strategy has undergone a further delay. There was a public consultation on the proposed submission version back in January-March 2013, but while the consultation responses have been published, there has not as yet been any formal response. The District Council and SDNP Authority have participated, with others, in a new survey of housing need in the Sussex Coastal region, and further progress has been deferred while the Council considers how to respond to it

14 November 2013

Developers Bellway Homes have bulldozed a field in Billinghurst, deliberately ignoring a process initiated by local people who had applied have the location recognised as a village green.

The field, adjacent to Daux Avenue, had been the subject of a public enquiry in September - October this year following the application for Village Green status in 2009. Village Green status would protect the field from building development. The Planning Inspector's decision had not yet been given. In a clear attempt to preempt any such decision, the developers Bellway Homes bulldozed the site last week.

CPRE Sussex believes this is an act of vandalism inflicted in advance of the Planning Inspector's findings and West Sussex County Council's planning decision on the site. If a piece of land had been used by local people for lawful sports and pastimes "as of right" – without permission, force or secrecy for at least 20 years – users can apply under section 15(1) of the Commons Act 2006 to register land as a green.

The field was photographed by Dr Roger Smith of CPRE Sussex following the destruction, on Sunday 10 November.

We will be publishing a full report on this shortly.

EDIT

Dr Roger Smith appeared on BBC South Today on 14 November discussing Bellway Home's destruction of the site.

6 November 2013

The high profile seminar held jointly by GACC, CPRE Surrey and CPRE Sussex on Friday 25 October voiced local and national concern about the prospect of a new runway at Gatwick Airport. Attended by over thirty local councillors, all the major parties, four MPs and one MEP, the seminar concluded with the Chair tabling a resolution that, “Those here would oppose any new runway at LGW”, which was passed by a show of hands with a large majority.

Read a detailed report about the Runaway Gatwick seminar.

1 November 2013

At a packed public meeting on 18 October held jointly by CPRE Sussex and Locals Against Mayfield Building Sprawl, local MPs lambasted the plan to build 10,000 new homes on land between Henfield and Sayers Common.

Nick Herbert MP for Arundel and South Downs said, “This new town proposal is a con, not wanted by the parish council or district council.”

Nicholas Soames, MP for Mid Sussex, joined CPRE Sussex's Roger Smith and Georgia Wrighton in declaring it to be “an appalling, opportunistic proposal.”

Read a full account of the meeting in our Mayfield campaign section