Author: Parish Clerk

Planning Update

The Parish Council has engaged a firm of planning consultants to draw up representations on its behalf, against the Taylor Wimpey planning application for 150 homes south of Green Road.

Last week, the consultants submitted two letters to Lewes District Council (LDC).  The first, in response to application LW/24/0803, argued that the information which Taylor Wimpey has provided is insufficient to allow LDC to determine whether or not an Environmental Impact Assessment should be required for this site.

The second, in respect of application LW/24/0820, requested that, owing to missing documents, LDC invalidates the application until such time as these documents are received and then restarts the clock on the public consultation.  If LDC is not willing to do that then, owing to problems with the LDC website – which had made accessing the planning documents difficult until last week – the consultants have asked that LDC at least resets the clock on the consultation period.

It appears that the consultation period deadline has now been extended to 18th February.

Residents are strongly encouraged to submit their views about application LW/24/0820, via the Lewes District Council website, or by writing to / emailing the Planning Department.

Lewes District Local Plan Webinar

This Tuesday 14 January Lewes District Council will be holding a webinar and Q&A for anyone interested in hearing about our current stage of consultation over the Lewes District Local Plan, from 5pm to 6.30pm.

We’ll hold this on Zoom – the link for the session can be found on our website at Lewes District Local Plan consultation – Lewes and Eastbourne Councils. You can also find details of all in-person events on this page.

We’ll make a recording of the webinar available on our website once it has ended, for anyone unable to attend live.

For this current phase of consultation, we are asking residents to focus their feedback on:
– Early site allocation proposals
– Themes and policies of the plan

The current phase of consultation focuses on sites within towns and a limited number of villages. There will be a further stage of consultation later in the year that will have a greater emphasis on more rural parts of the district, while also re-evaluating areas considered during phase one.

Citizens Advice Drop In Advice Sessions

The Lewes District Citizens Advice are offering drop in sessions in the Renshaw Room of Wivelsfield Village Hall. The sessions are 10.30am until 1pm on the following dates:

Monday 27th January

Monday 10th February

Monday 24th March

Monday 28th April

Monday 19th May

Monday 9th June

Lewes District Local Plan consultation set for New Year launch

Residents across Lewes district are being encouraged to take part in the latest stage of consultation on Lewes District Council’s Local Plan.
Local plans set out where future development will take place, such as new homes and locations for business growth, as well the local policy requirements against which future planning applications will be judged.
A first phase of consultation that will run from Monday 6 January 6 to Saturday 28 February 2025. Phase one of the consultation is on the detailed policies for the plan area and will consider sites within towns and a limited number of villages. The second phase will take place later in 2025 and have a greater emphasis on more rural parts of the district, while also re-evaluating areas considered during phase one.
Residents can choose from a range of different ways to engage with the consultation. This will include an online webinar that will take place early in the New Year and a series of in-person drop-in events that will begin towards the end of January 2025.
For more information about the Local Plan consultation and schedule of events is available at https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/Lewes-Local-Plan

Have you completed your Housing Needs Survey for Wivelsfield Parish Council?

Everyone in the parish should have received a Housing Needs Survey. This can be completed and returned freepost or done online. This is important to complete as it will help with the development of the next revision of the Neighbourhood Plan.

Although the deadline for the Survey has passed, it is still possible to submit a response between now and the end of December and the Parish Council encourage you to do so please. The link to complete this survey online is www.surveymonkey.com/r/RB9JVQK