Finally, after a delay of about 3 years, the commercial partner has been identified as the little-known Brighton-based Karis Developments, who have in turn recruited the rather better known provider of affordable housing, the London-based Southern Housing Group. A list of 30 regeneration sites has been published (with no explanation of any plans for the remainder) and as expected they include many sites with current community functions. While community consultations are promised, it is clear from the announcement that the sites will deliver the rather precise number of 415 new homes, up to 40% of which will be affordable. However, some very odd features seem to be emerging.
Firstly, the national emphasis on Localism is well supported in Lewes District. A whole raft of Neighbourhood Plans are moving forward with Lewes DC support. However, the list of regeneration sites has been finalised, from a longer initial list, without any of the consultation that Localism requires. Any sensible commercial developer would make that their first step. Instead the plans have simply been sprung on local communities. In some cases (Newick, Ringmer & Wivelsfield) they are too late for inclusion in Neighbourhood Plans. All these Neighbourhood Plans included in their development a "call for sites". Lewes DC was consulted, but seems simply to have ignored this as far as its own plans for its own sites are concerned. That would not be a smart way for any developer to act; even odder when the developer concerned is the District Council itself.
The second is that you would expect proposals that will need planning consent to take some cognaisance of national and local planning policies, most especially the advanced Lewes District Local Plan. Some of the proposed sites might fit with the Local Plan, but many do not. To take what is perhaps the most obvious example, Lewes DC propose to develop a large amount of social housing, to meet a District-wide need for such housing, on East Chiltington's village green. East Chiltington parish council were naturally flabbergasted when they were told about this idea by the senior council officer responsible for the regeneration programme. East Chiltington is a tiny hamlet with one bus per weekday, and is accessed down a narrow country lane. There is no shop or school, and it is miles to a doctor. Such development would be completely against the National Planning Policy Framework. The Local Plan follows the national rules and doesn't plan for any development in such hamlets, except to meet local needs. The South Downs National Park (the planning authority for the site) plans no development here. Have there been any conversations with planning officers about the liklihood of achieving planning permission here? Yes, there certainly is a need for affordable housing in Lewes District, with by far the greatest need in Lewes town, but this would be a bizarre place to put it. Yet the senior council officer told East Chiltington Parish Council that their village green was one of the most important sites in the list.
The third issue is one of institutional integrity. Lewes District Council has three administrative divisions, Service Delivery, Forward Planning and Corporate Affairs. The regeneration programme would most obviously fit into one of the latter two. However, the programme is apparently being driven forward by the Director of Service Delivery. She is also the senior line manager for the development control officers who have to make recommendations on planning applications. Avoiding a conflict of interest under this arrangement would require a Chinese wall within this director's head.
