Lewes Forum thread

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Lewes Neighbourhood Plan

On 30 Nov 2015 at 4:28pm SHS wrote:

Doubtless already mentioned on here by someone much more knowledgeable than me but if you missed it and have an hour to waste please check the Lewes4all dot UK website:
(Should be a link here.)
There is a questionnaire that will be ignored, but to vent your anger you could comment on:
1. The absence of any specific commitment of any kind;
2. Little mention of the importance of business, manufacturing, employment and a low-cost enterprise zone for wealth-generators.
3. Too much emphasis on leisure, heritage, preservation, community, bramble baskets and museums.
4. The word 'rail' is mentioned just once in the transport section.
5. Community assets will be re-developed if not viable or alternatives can be find.
6. In general an insulting vagueness throughout, designed to allow almost any plan or policy to be waived through as complying with the plan.
Who writes this stuff and how much does it cost???????

Check it out here »

On 30 Nov 2015 at 5:06pm tobnac wrote:

Neighbourhood Planning is a concept introduced by the coalition government as part of the 2011 Localism Act.
It allows town or parish councils (or other neighbourhood groups if there are no parish councils) to produce their own 'neighbourhood plan' to supplement the local plan produced by the local planning authority (which in our case is SDNPA).
The Tories envisaged it as a sort of YIMBY's (Yes, In My Back Yard) charter. They hoped that local communities would get together, sit down and write a �_permissive_ planning document that sets out what sort of thing people would like to see, and where. Communities can use neighbourhood planning to permit the development they want to see - in full or in outline � without the need for planning applications. These are called 'neighbourhood development orders.'
Both neighbourhood plans and neighbourhood development orders require more than 50% support in a local referendum to have any weight.
The Lewes Neighbourhood Plan is being written at the moment. From the look of the website, now looks like a good time to get involved. It's worth being realistic though. Including support for the Uckfield rail link (for example) in the plan might sound like a nice idea, but it'll have zero impact in the real world.
In answer to SHS's specific question, a company called Feria Urbanism has written it, for Lewes Town Council. I don't know how much it has cost. Not much would be my guess.

On 2 Dec 2015 at 1:38pm WotisrongwivU wrote:

SHS - did as you suggested and had a look - guess what it says on the VERY FIRST PAGE:
This consultation report
sets out a series of
emerging draft policies for
the neighbourhood plan,
based on the consultation
results to date.
The views of the
community are now being
sought to ensure that
these draft policies are
both right and appropriate
for Lewes.
Which parts of "consultation" or "emerging" or "draft" or "views are now being sought" don't you understand?

On 2 Dec 2015 at 4:05pm SHS wrote:

I knew there would be someone more knowledgeable than me here. One of my many faults is skipping first pages. However it will be interesting to see just how much, if any, of the plan changes from now until the final version. I certainly gave my feedback in the survey, just on the off-chance it might be read.