Wealden District Council’s approved Core Strategy Local Plan was adopted in February 2013, and we thus thought that we knew where housing development may take place. The plan set out the strategic sites, and the pattern of development in the villages, with housing numbers for agreed locations for the period to 2027. In practice this is working for the major settlements. The Strategic Sites Local Plan Update hearing has been held, and we await the result. A new Local Development Scheme has just been approved (Jan 2015) by WDC, and associated with this an exercise is in progress, asking landowners to put forward sites for consideration in the new SSELAA (which has superseded SHLAA), and results for this are not expected until late 2016.

However this seems to leave us with a problem in the villages, as developers submit planning applications for village sites quoting the NPPF, and saying that as the Local Plan is not complete there is no plan and so the NPPF presumptions apply. Curiously the figures in the Core Strategy do not seem to count. For example Ninfield has a figure of 50 new dwellings in the Core Strategy, but applications for more than twice that number are in the pipeline, and they will apparently not count towards the 50, but are counted as windfalls! Another village similarly affected at this time is Herstmonceux where two large schemes (totalling over 110 properties) are being put forward, and we are confident that other villages too may also soon be subject to this developer pressure. This creates extra pressure on those who wish to oppose these developments in the country, and on the District Council who, under financial pressure, cannot employ enough staff to speed this process. So much for local decisions!

Finally, on a much smaller scale, the application for a small seasonal campsite in Ancient Woodland at East Hoathly, mentioned in the last report, was refused. The site owner has appealed, and we await the inspector’s report. (Another “local” decision!)