Lewes District Council - Local Plan Part 2: Site Allocations and Development
Management Development Plan Document
Frequently Asked Questions.
Q) What is the Site Allocations and Development Management
Development Plan Document (DPD)?
A) The Site Allocations and Development Management DPD will, once adopted,
allocate areas of land within Lewes District (outside of the South Downs National
Park designation) for specific types of development, such as housing and
employment and will include a number of detailed development management
policies. This Development Plan Document will form Part 2 of the Lewes District
Local Plan
Part 1 is the Joint Core Strategy produced by Lewes District Council and South
Downs National Park Authority (currently in Proposed Submission form), which
promotes sustainable development and sets out the scale, type and broad
location of key development proposed in the whole of the district to 2030. This
document can be viewed at:
www.lewes.gov.uk/Files/plan_Core_Strategy_PSD_Jan.pdf
Q) How do I put forward a site to be considered for allocation in the Site
Allocations and Development Management DPD?
A) In June 2013 the Council undertook a Call for Sites whereby sites could be
submitted to be considered as an allocation option within the Issues and Options
stage consultation document. During this consultation (22 November 2013 to 17
January 2014) additional site options can be submitted to the Council to be
considered. A site submission form is available on the Council’s website.
Lewes District Council will also be considering sites that have been previously
put forward through the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
(SHLAA). The sites submitted and assessed for this piece of evidence can be
viewed in the latest version of the SHLAA at:
www.lewes.gov.uk/planning/shlaa.asp
If you have previously submitted a site for assessment in the SHLAA/ Call for
Sites and you have further/updated information relating to it then please send this
through to the District Council. In some instances, we may seek further
information relating to sites submitted to us, in which case we will contact site
proponents for this.
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Q) Do you have to own land to put it forward for allocation?
A) No. Anyone can submit sites for us to consider and you don't have to own it
for it to be considered and consulted upon.
Q) How will potential development sites be assessed?
A) Sites will be assessed against a range of criteria that will include: public and
stakeholder opinion (as a result of consultation); the likelihood of delivery; impact
on existing infrastructure; scoring against Sustainability Appraisal objectives; and
consistency with national policy and the Core Strategy (Local Plan Part 1).
Q) Will sites be allocated in Parishes and Towns that are producing a
neighbourhood plan?
A) Parishes that have made a neighbourhood area designation application and
have shown that they have a realistic and robust timetable to produce their
neighbourhood plan (which will include the allocation of housing growth in line
with the Core Strategy) will have the role of allocating sites for development. If
however a neighbourhood plan is not brought forward in a timely manner or fails
at examination or referendum then Lewes District Council will need to plan for
any identified growth.
The District Council will be working closely with parishes that are developing a
neighbourhood plan, to understand the policy areas that they propose to include
within their plan to ensure that a ‘policy gap’ is not left at the local level. This is
likely to mean contingency policies that will apply in the event of a neighbourhood
plan not being adopted by a certain date.
Q) How will existing infrastructure and services cope and what new
infrastructure and services will be provided to support the growth?
A) All new development, housing in particular, will contribute to the delivery of
appropriate infrastructure either directly or through a financial contribution
through the Community Infrastructure Levy. The Council is already working
closely with the relevant agencies to ensure that the exact infrastructure
requirements of specific sites can be understood. Initial work is set out in the
Council’s draft Infrastructure Delivery Plan and this document can be viewed at:
www.lewes.gov.uk/Files/plan_Draft_IDP_2012.pdf.
Q) What will the Development Management Policies deliver?
A) The primary purpose of the development management policies are to support
the implementation of the Joint Core Strategy and the achievement of its spatial
vision, which sets out the aspiration of what the district will be like, by 2030. The
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policies will also set out local criteria against which planning applications for the
development and use of land and buildings will be assessed.
Q) How will the Council decide what Development Management policies
should be included?
A) National guidance sets out that planning documents should set out the
opportunities for development and clear policies on what will or will not be
permitted and where. Only policies that provide a clear indication of how a
decision maker should react to a development proposal should be included in a
plan.
Q) What will happen to the Local Plan (2003) development management
policies that have been ‘saved’?
A) There are a number of ‘saved’ development management policies from the
earlier Local Plan which are currently used in the determination of planning
applications. These will be reviewed and those that are still relevant can be
carried forward in to the new document. However some of these may need to be
amended to reflect the new national policies in the Governments National
Planning Policy Framework, published after the adoption of the Local Plan 2003.
Q) What is the timetable for the Site Allocations and Development
Management DPD?
A) The following timetable provides an overview of the key stages of producing
the document and opportunities for consultation and as you will see it will take
approximately 2 years from start to finish. It takes this long as we have to look at
every site and all the policies in detail and examine all the pros and cons. We
also need time for full public consultation and need to make sure that we satisfy
all the relevant legal requirements.
Timetable
Evidence gathering and stakeholder engagement (asking
people to submit sites and give suggestions on development
management issues in a formal consultation period)
Public consultation ‘Issues and Options’
Internal review to take account of public and stakeholder
feedback
Pre-submission public consultation (further formal
consultation period)
Formal Submission to the Secretary of State
Examination in Public
Inspector’s Report
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Date
March to October
2013
November 2013 to
January 2014
Summer 2014
Late 2014
Spring 2015
Summer 2015
Autumn 2015
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Formal Adoption
Late 2015
We will keep you informed of any changes to this timetable, via the Council’s
website at www.lewes.gov.uk/planning/
Q) How do I get involved and have my say?
A) It is important to us that you get the opportunity to give us your views.
Throughout the process we will actively seek your comments and give you as
much opportunity as possible to tell us your thoughts and suggestions.
You can get involved by:

Registering for our e-mail alert system, which means you will receive an email to notify you of any consultation periods on the document, as well as
the publication of relevant background evidence.

Sending us your comments by email/post within the formal consultation
period 22 November 2013 to midnight 17 January 2014.

Submit sites for us to consider for allocation

Get in touch so that we can explain the process and address any
concerns you might have
Comments can be sent to the District Council by:
E Mail: ldf@lewes.gov.uk
Fax: 01273 484452
Post: Lewes District Council, Planning Policy Team, Southover House,
Southover Road, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1AB
The Planning Policy team is always happy to deal with any queries about this
emerging document. Contact can be made by emailing the address above or by
telephoning the Planning Policy team on 01273 484410/ 484417.
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