Lewes District Council

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Planning
Lewes District Council
Southover House
Southover Road
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 1AB

Tel: 01273 484420
planning@lewes.gov.uk
Fax: 01273 484452
Minicom 01273 484488

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Lewes District Local Plan

The Lewes District Local Plan is a document that sets out what we plan to do with land in the district and how we will control development. It guides most of our day-to-day planning decisions.

The Lewes District Local Plan was adopted in March 2003 and sets out the current planning strategy for the District. It is under review and will ultimately be replaced by the Local Development Framework.

Implications of the National Planning Policy Framework on the Lewes District Local Plan

On the 27th March the Government published the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In light of this, Lewes District Council has undertaken a review of its 'saved' Local Plan policies to determine whether they are consistent with the NPPF. A report was considered and approved by the Lewes District Council Cabinet on the 17th April. This report is intended to provide clarity as to how the District Council will utilise the saved Local Plan policies in the determination of planning applications. The first attachment is the Cabinet report in question. The second attachment presents a summary of an assessment of our saved Local Plan policies against the NPPF.

Cabinet Report April 2012 (PDF document, 34.7KB)

Summary of assessment of our saved Local Plan policies against the NPPF (PDF document, 51.6KB)

View the Local Plan

See further information on the Lewes District Local Plan using our interactive service. We recommend you read the user guide should you need help.


Saved Local Plan Policies

Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, adopted structure and local plan policies are saved for three years from whichever is the later of:

Saved policies are reviewed annually as part of the Annual Monitoring Report.

List of Local Plan saved and not-saved policies

PDF
PDF Full list of Local Plan Saved & Not Saved policies (0.10mb)

PDF
PDF Letter from the Government Office for the South East confirming which policies have been saved (0.09mb)

Change in AONB policy

The Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designation was revoked when the designation of the South Downs National Park took effect on 31st March 2010.  Consequently, Local Plan Policies CT2 and E16 are no longer applicable and Policies ST25 and ST29 now only apply in relation to development within Conservation Areas.

Further information about the new South Downs National Park is available on our website

Change in affordable housing policy

In the light of Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (PPS3), our Cabinet resolved on 28th March 2007 to change the threshold for the provision of affordable housing, including open market and sheltered housing, within new residential developments within the District to meet PPS3.

This states that ‘the national minimum threshold is 15 dwellings’ (paragraph 29) and states that “when making planning decisions for housing developments after 1 April 2007, local planning authorities should have regard to the policies in this statement as material considerations which may supersede policies in existing development plans” (paragraph 68).  This change affects the Lewes District Local Plan Policy RES9.

A threshold of 15 dwellings now applies district-wide and replaces the differing thresholds between the towns of Seaford, Newhaven, Peacehaven and Telscombe and the rest of the District.