Core Strategy

The Core Strategy is the central policy document for the Local Development Framework. It will set out the long term spatial vision for the district.

The Core Strategy

The Core Strategy will be the pivotal document in our Local Development Framework and will set out the over-arching strategies that all other documents in the LDF will need to be in conformity with. A key purpose of the Core Strategy will be to set out a vision for Lewes District and identify the areas in the District where new development or change is to take place up to 2030.

The District Council is working in partnership with the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) to prepare the Core Strategy, which will ultimately be a jointly adopted strategy covering the whole of Lewes District, including the area within the National Park boundary.

Market Research for Shopping and Town Centre Study

Lewes District Council has commissioned a market research company, Allegra Business Strategies, to carry out a telephone survey to help us understand shopping patterns, preferences and needs throughout the District.

Randomly selected households within a range of postcodes in the District will be contacted by telephone from the beginning of December 2011 and be asked a number of questions which will inform a Shopping and Town Centre Study, currently being undertaken. The Study will inform the emerging Core Strategy policy for retail and town centre development and will be available to view on this website in spring 2012.

The Core Strategy - Frequently Asked Questions

Core Strategy FAQs
Word Core Strategy FAQs (0.05mb)

Core Strategy - Emerging Strategy Consultation 2011

The Emerging Core Strategy was made available for public consultation between 30 September 2011 and 2 December 2011. The consultation has now finished. The Emerging Core Strategy built upon the previous Core Strategy 'Issues and Emerging Options' Topic Papers consultation undertaken last year. The document can be seen here:

Emerging Core Strategy (PDF document, 3.7MB)

Core Strategy Topic Papers 2010

We published a number of Core Strategy 'Issues & Emerging Options' Topic Papers for public consultation in May 2010. These Topic Papers set out our proposed vision for the District and the issues that we think need to be addressed in the plan period. They brought together previous engagement work undertaken with District Councillors, representatives of Town and Parish Councils, and members of the Local Strategic Partnership.

There are nine Topic Papers on which we sought people's views and comments. The end of each Topic Paper included a number of questions to which people were invited to respond to. The 'Issues and Emerging Options' consultation period finished on the 16th July 2010. The nine Topic Papers are set out below:


Section	PDF
Introduction & background to the Topic Papers
1. Characteristics of the district
2. Key strategic issues and challenges for the district
3. A draft vision for Lewes District
4. Draft strategic objectives for the Core Strategy
5. Developing a broad strategy for accommodating and delivering growth
6. Other key elements of the emerging strategy
7. Possible strategic development site at North Street, Lewes
8. Possible strategic development site at Eastside, Newhaven
9. Sustainability Appraisal objectives and indicators

Consultation periods

The Emerging Core Strategy consultation document was made available for public consultation between 30 September 2011 and 2 December 2011. Consultation has now ended. Hard copies were available to view at the Planning Services Information Office at Southover House in Lewes and at local libraries (see below).

The 'Issues and Emerging Options' Topic Papers were published for an 8 week consultation period between 21st May and 16th July 2010. Copies are still downloadable above.

There will be further formal public consultation on the next stage of the Core Strategy preparation, the ‘Proposed Submission Document’. It is expected that this will be in April/May 2012.

Background Documents

In accordance with European and national legislation, documents prepared under the Local Development Framework (LDF) must be subject to a Sustainability Appraisal process, incorporating a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Therefore, the Sustainability Appraisal and SEA requirements will need to apply to the development of the Core Strategy. The first stage in meeting these requirements is to prepare a Sustainability Appraisal, incorporating a SEA, Scoping Report. This document was prepared at the same time as the Topic Papers and was published as a background document. It is available to view below.

A Sustainability Appraisal (incorporating a SEA) was produced to accompany the Emerging Core Strategy. Like the Emerging Core Strategy, it went out for consultation.

PDF
PDF Sustainability Appraisal/SEA Scoping Report (2.76mb)

PDF
PDF Emerging Core Strategy - Sustainability Appraisal (incorporating SEA) (3.81mb)

Local Planning Authorities are also required to undertake an Appropriate Assessment to assess the impacts that plans and programmes may have on internationally protected sites that are located both within their administrative area and nearby.

The first part of the Appropriate Assessment process is to screen for likely significant effects plans (in this case the emerging Core Strategy) on the protected sites. A screening opinion has been produced and the report can be seen below. The content of the report has been agreed with the statutory body on the Appropriate Assessment, Natural England.

PDF
PDF Appropriate Assessment Screening (0.44mb)

The likely abolition of the South East Plan will necessitate the identification of a locally derived housing target for the District. With this in mind the following Housing Background Paper to the emerging Core Strategy has been prepared. This is a live document that may be revised in advance of the Core Strategy Proposed Submission document.

Housing Background Paper (PDF document, 180 KB)

A number of other background reports can be found online.

Summary of Consultations

We are currently reviewing the representations received on the Emerging Core Strategy and will make available a consultation summary document as soon as possible.

The document below provides a summary of the comments received during the 2010 consultation on the Core Strategy Issues and Options Topic Papers. It includes brief details of how the representations received in 2010 have influenced the production of the 2011 Core Strategy 'Emerging Options' consultation document.

PDF
PDF Summary of Consultation on the Core Strategy (1.34mb)

Another background document, which was published alongside the Topic Papers, summarised the comments made on the Core Strategy Preferred Options document, which was published in 2006, and sets out how those comments have and will influence the emerging Core Strategy document.

PDF
PDF Core Strategy Preferred Options Document 2006 - Summary of Responses (0.12mb)

How to be kept informed?

We operate an LDF email alert system whereby emails are sent out informing of when planning documents are out for consultation and when evidence-based documents are made available for public viewing.

To sign up for the alerts please send an email request to ldf@lewes.gov.uk and we will send you subsequent email alerts.

What happens next?

The timetable for progressing the Core Strategy beyond this stage is as follows:

Stages in preparing the Core Strategy	Date
Issues and Emerging Options Topic Papers [1]	May/June 2010
Preferred Strategy (including other options considered) [1]	September 2011
Proposed Submission Document [2]	April/May 2012
Formal Submission [3]	July 2012
Examination	October/November 2012
Adoption	February 2013

[1] These stages will constitute Regulation 25 of The Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008
[2] Regulation 27 of the above regulations
[3] Regulation 30 of the above regulations

Earlier Core Strategy work

Formulating a Core Strategy document is not a new task to us, as we commenced work on such a document in 2004. In September 2006, we published the Core Strategy - Preferred Options document for public consultation.

Due to fundamental concerns being raised on the 2006 document and a number of recent and significant changes to national and regional planning policy, we decided to start afresh in preparing a Core Strategy document. This does not mean that all the work that was undertaken to inform the 2006 Core Strategy document, including the valuable input received from members of the public and key organisations, has been wasted.

The emerging Core Strategy that we are currently working on will take into account, where appropriate, representations made on the 2006 document as well as evidence that is still relevant.

Getting in contact

If you wish to contact the Planning Policy team to discuss the Core Strategy then we can be contacted by the following means:

Email: ldf@lewes.gov.uk

Fax: 01273 484452

Post:
Planning Policy Team
Lewes District Council
Southover House
Southover Road
Lewes
BN7 1AB

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