2.1            This new draft Local Plan has not been prepared in isolation.  There are many policies, strategies and issues which influence the Plan and require changes to the existing adopted Wealden Local Plan.  This Chapter outlines these various influences.

 

2.2            As a land use document, the Local Plan has been prepared in accordance with Government guidance, Regional Planning Guidance for the South East, and the Structure Plan.  It has also been informed by the results of public consultations.

 

2.3            A significant influence on the Local Plan is the emerging Community Strategy for Wealden District which forms a vision jointly produced by the Council and its Partners to positively help the social, economic and environmental well being of the area.  This will influence the Council's own corporate priorities and objectives and help shape the Local Plan itself.

 

 

 

 

2.4            The policies and proposals of the Plan are set within the context of the Government's aims for sustainable development and its advice on planning matters set out in its Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs).  Recent Government guidance contained in PPG3, Housing, on sustainability, design, mixed uses and balanced communities has been particularly influential.  However, the Plan has been prepared in the light of the full range of PPG advice, which covers matters such as industrial and commercial development, the countryside and the rural economy, the historic environment, nature conservation, sport and recreation, tourism, coastal planning, etc.  Specific guidance on the format and content of Local Plans is provided in PPG12, Development Plans.

 

 

 

2.5            In March 2001, the Government published Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG9).  This provides a broad framework for the preparation of local authority development plans and other strategies and programmes for the South East to the year 2016, including guidance on patterns of development, levels of housing, provision and transport planning.  The key features of the guidance are:

 

·       enabling urban renaissance

·       promoting regeneration and renewal

·       concentrating development in urban areas

·       promoting a prosperous and multi-purpose countryside

·       promoting wider choice in travel options, thereby reducing the reliance on the private car

 

2.6            The guidance recognises the important role of the South East in the development of the United Kingdom economy, and the need to support and further develop the prosperity and international competitiveness of the region to ensure that it contributes fully to national growth.  However, it also acknowledges that a high quality environment is essential to the future prosperity of the South East.  The effective protection of the environment and prudent use of natural resources are fundamental to the overall planning strategy for the region, with priority given to protecting areas of international and national importance for nature conservation, landscape and cultural value.

 

2.7            The guidance also emphasises the need for better integration of land use and transport planning, recognising that congestion in parts of the South East is at a level that will constrain growth unless changes are made to the way people and goods travel.  It seeks to secure the necessary shift in transport modes that will allow greater interaction and accessibility without excessive use of land and the continued dispersal of activities.  Multi-modal studies, including a South Coast Corridor (Southampton – Ramsgate study, have commenced to assist this aim.

 

 

 

 

2.8            The East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Structure Plan is prepared by the County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council.  It was formally approved in 1999 and provides the strategic planning framework for the whole of the County to the year 2011.

 

2.9            The Structure Plan aims to achieve a more environmentally sustainable future for the County and to meet the needs for development and change in a manner that is more sustainable in the longer term. The key elements of its strategy are:

 

·	protection and enhancement of the character and quality of the environment
·	protection and enhancement of the countryside, whilst allowing limited development to meet local needs and allow the rural economy to thrive
·	a positive approach to economic development and inward investment to improve prosperity and achieve a better balance between people and jobs
·	the productive use of existing employment sites and allocations and their protection from proposals for other uses
·	implementing existing commitments to new business parks, including those at Maresfield and Polegate
·	providing for new housing to meet strategic housing requirements, including new land allocations for approximately 3,300 dwellings in Wealden, focussed on the Low Weald towns (Hailsham, Polegate and Uckfield)
·	supporting the provision of affordable housing in towns and villages
·	an Integrated Transport and Environment Strategy, which includes measures to reduce the need to travel, especially by car, and promotes improvements to public transport and the trunk road network
·	town regeneration, including enhancing the environment and vitality of town centres
·	supporting appropriate development in selected villages to help local needs for housing, employment and services

 

 

2.10            The Structure Plan, together with the Minerals and Waste Local Plans when adopted, forms part of the development plan for the area. Its policies apply throughout the District and should be read in conjunction with this Local Plan.

 

 

 

 

2.11            Prior to the preparation of the Local Plan, the Council consulted the local community by publishing an Issues Document and holding a series of public meetings and exhibitions across the District. A summary leaflet, incorporating a questionnaire, was also sent to every household. Careful regard has been to the responses received from the public, arising both from the specific consultations on the Local Plan and from similar consultation initiatives in respect of the Community Strategy and the Council's Best Value Performance Reviews.

 

 

 

2.12            Wealden District Council has an overall vision for the District including corporate objectives to help achieve this vision and a number of strategies developed in consultation with the local community as listed below:

 

Cultural Strategy

Crime and Disorder Strategy

Contaminated Land Strategy

Economic Development and Tourism Service Delivery Plan

Empty Homes Strategy

Housing Strategy

Managing Unauthorised Camping Strategy

Private Sector Renewal Strategy

Asset Management Plan

 

2.13            An important consideration for the Local Plan will be to find ways in which the land use planning system can help deliver these objectives and the actions plans in the strategies.

 

2.14            The Council’s Mission Statement for the District is "Working together to improve the quality of life in Wealden ". 

 

2.15            Three corporate objectives have been adopted to achieve this mission, as follows:

 

1.  to protect and enhance a sustainable environment.

 

2.  to promote a healthier and safer community.

 

3.  to develop a more prosperous and sustainable local economy.

 

2.16            These objectives will continue to be reviewed in the context of the Community Strategy and other influences.

 

 

 

 

2.17            The Council, in partnership with other agencies and organisations known as the Local Strategic Partnership, is also preparing a Community Strategy, as required by the Local Government Act 2000.  This will be a significant document which will help set and steer priorities for local services and expenditure by the Council and its partners.

 

2.18            The Community Strategy will influence and help shape the Local Plan.  In turn, this draft Local Plan’s policies will form the land use arm looking to help in implementing the objectives and actions proposed in the Community Strategy.

 

2.19            The emerging key visions from the Strategy following consultations with local people are listed below:

 

·       to provide everyone in Wealden with access to lifelong learning, education and skills training to fulfil their potential

 

·       to develop a healthy, rich and diverse environment based on sustainable principles for everybody in Wealden

 

·       to provide everyone in Wealden with access to appropriate health and social care services and maximise their potential for good health and well-being

 

·       to provide access to decent affordable homes suitable for the needs of all those who live or need to live in Wealden

 

·       to provide the people of Wealden with access to a broad range of opportunities including sport, leisure, recreation and the arts, to improve their quality of life, health and well-being

 

·       to create a prosperous sustainable economy that is dynamic, flexible and maintains the environmental qualities of the area

 

·       to enable everyone to live, work in or visit Wealden confident of their safety and free from the fear of crime

 

·       to improve accessibility for all and reduce the impact of traffic on people and places.

 

2.20            Clearly the objectives of this draft Local Plan and the emerging Community Strategy are interlinked, particularly in trying to achieve sustainable improvements to the quality of life for Wealden’s residents.  There are a number of common issues between land use planning and the local community's views through the Community Strategy including;

 

·       conservation and enhancement of the environment

 

·       the provision of affordable housing

 

·       good health and other community facilities

 

·       crime prevention

 

·       waste disposal

 

·       traffic control and public transport

 

·       antisocial behaviour

 

 

 

 

2.21            In the light of the foregoing, the Plan is seeking to undertake the following:-

 

(1)   to take forward national, regional and Structure Plan policy in a way that addresses the needs of the District and reflects the characteristics of the area;

 

(2)   to set out a strategy and policies with a vision for the District, complementing and contributing to that set out on the emerging Community Strategy.

 

2.22            The key aims of the Strategy put forward in this Draft Plan are:-

 

(1)   to pursue sustainable development looking to improve the quality of life and equality of opportunities for Wealden’s existing and future communities;

 

(2)   to recognise the need for development in the District to be balanced with the conservation and enhancement of the District’s environmental quality and character;

 

(3)   to provide for the required new housing, business and associated growth in the District principally in or on the edge of urban areas, looking to achieve the efficient use of land with good design and better accessibility to jobs and services (see para 2.24 below);

 

(4)   to meet the housing needs of the whole community, including affordable housing, seeking balanced and socially inclusive communities;

 

(5)   to promote a healthy and diverse local economy which makes adequate provision for new business development, provides local jobs, helps to reduce out-commuting, assists the rural areas and revitalises the town and larger village centres;

 

(6)   to promote an efficient and sustainable transport system which minimises the need to travel, especially by car, encourages the use of public transport, walking and cycling, and provides for the needs of people with mobility difficulties;

 

(7)   to ensure that a full range of community facilities and services are provided at the appropriate time to meet the needs arising from expanding communities in the District.

 

2.23            These aims will be reviewed and revised in the light of public comment, the Council’s revised objectives and the objectives, targets and proposed actions in the Community Strategy.

 

 

Distribution of Development Strategy

 

2.24            The context for this Plan’s distribution of development strategy has been given by the Structure Plan, namely to provide new housing and business land to meet strategic requirements, including new land allocations for approximately 3,300 dwellings focused on the Low Weald towns of Hailsham, Polegate and Uckfield.

 

2.25            The Council carefully examined the capability of the Low Weald towns to accommodate major growth and also examined the capability of Crowborough, Heathfield and the Villages in the District to accommodate further growth.  The analysis was undertaken with sustainable development principles at its heart with key planning considerations including accessibility, landscape, planning designations and constraints, infrastructure and community services.  The analysis flowed from a broad sector appraisal down to site specific considerations.

 

2.26            A distribution of development strategy was agreed by the Council following consideration through the Council’s Wealden Local Plan Review Advisory Panel comprising Wealden District Council Members.  It was subsequently re-examined and refined in view of the Highway Agency’s potential objection to the level of growth envisaged in Hailsham and Polegate and its impact on the A27 Trunk Road.

 

2.27            A full explanation is given in background papers to this Plan, principally the “Review of the Council’s Distribution Strategy” and the “Hailsham and Polegate Transportation Studies”.

 

2.28            The Distribution of Development Strategy is set out below.  The specific sites are detailed in the Housing Chapter in the Town Chapters and in the Villages Chapter

 

Location                                  Dwellings

 

(i)    North Hailsham or North

       Hailsham/Hellingly Hospital        900-1000

 

(ii)    Other urban extensions in

       Hailsham                                  320

 

(iii)   Land south east Polegate,

       north east of Willingdon*            750

 

 (iv)  land east of Shepham Lane,

       north east Polegate*                 200

 

(v)    Bird-in-Eye and Harlands

       Farm, Uckfield                          500

 

(vi)   Urban extensions in

       Crowborough                            190

 

(vii)  Village extensions at Buxted,

       East Hoathly, Five Ash

       Down, Maresfield and

       Isfield                                       300

 

(viii)  Business Parks at

       Polegate and Hailsham

 

*phased to the completion of the proposed A27 Wilmington By-pass.

 

2.29            The Distribution of Development Strategy is illustrated on the key diagram at Figure 2.1.