Mid Sussex draft District Plan: yet more madcap ideas, consultation and delay
Written by Michael BrownMid Sussex update (January 2016)
The most significant story is the painfully rumbling saga of the District Council’s flailing attempts to pin down a draft of its new long term District Plan (it will run until 2031) that is fit to present to the Planning Inspectorate for public examination. We report separately below on the latest position, and on the representations that CPRE Sussex has made to the Council on the most recent changes that it has proposed to its draft plan. We remain deeply unhappy with key aspects of that draft Plan. It is too important and will be too longlasting for it to be wrong.
This is CPRE Sussex's response to the Wealden District Council's Local Plan Draft. Download the full letter below:
Dear Sir or Madam,
CPRE Sussex response to Wealden Local Plan - Issues, Options and Recommendations Consultation
This letter is the formal response of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Sussex Branch (CPRE Sussex) to the Wealden District Council (WDC) public consultation on the first stage of preparation for a new Wealden Local Plan, entitled “Issues, Options and Recommendations” (hereafter referred to as the consultation draft.) CPRE Sussex works to promote the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of the Sussex Countryside by encouraging the sustainable use of land and other natural resources in town and country. We encourage appropriate and sustainable land use, farming, woodland and biodiversity policies and practice to improve the well-being of rural communities. It is our position that local planning authorities should seek to ensure that the negative impacts of development on the countryside, both direct and indirect, are kept to a minimum and that development is sustainable in accordance with national planning policy.
Will Horham's District Plan do enough to stop the housing 'tsunami'?
Written by Roger F SmithLetter published by the West Sussex County Times, 3 December 2015
Sir,
Council to accommodate housing ‘tsunami’
Why Horsham District Council should reject Planning Inspector’s conditions
Written by Roger F SmithLetter published by the West Sussex County Times 19 November 2015
Sir,
Horsham District Planning Framework- Why Horsham District Council should reject Planning Inspector’s conditions
Letter published by the West Sussex County Times 19 November 2015
Sir,
When is a Frack not a Frack? When is a Ban not a Ban?
When is a Frack not a Frack? When is a Ban not a Ban? When it comes to the subject of unconventional oil and gas drilling, it seems Ministers are just as confused as the rest of us. One minute fracking is allowed in National Parks, and then it isn’t. A few weeks later and drilling is allowed to take place in National Parks so long as the well pad is constructed just outside the boundary. Despite the mounting pile of conflicting statements issued by Government Ministers and Departments, South Downs MP Nick Herbert stated with some certainty in a recent article that fracking would be banned in our most protected landscapes, though horizontal drilling underneath would still be permitted, but only at great depths. In the past week, DECC have issued another consultation on proposals to restrict drilling in other protected landscapes such as SSSIs (though Ancient Woodland and local designations such as SNCIs still appear to be excluded).
Fifty members and friends of CPRE Sussex gathered in Billingshurst on October 24 2015 to thrash out the focus for the Branch’s work for the next few years, leading up to CPRE’s centenary in 2026.
