A development of 1,100 houses could be coming to the Lewes District: “The planning system isn’t working”

Benedict Dempsey, Liberal Democrat candidate for the parliamentary constituency that contains Hamsey, said developments of this kind will not help solve the country’s housing crisis. Instead, he said, we should empower councils to build homes that put ‘people before profit’.

He said the Hamsey site should be rejected by Lewes District Council in its Local Plan. In the longer term, he said, the planning system needs major reform to allow councils to build new social and affordable housing with the necessary infrastructure to support them.

The site (labelled ‘19HY Land North of Cooksbridge’) has been judged ‘potentially suitable’ for development in Lewes District Council’s Land Availability Assessment (LAA). The council is currently asking for public feedback on options for its Local Plan, with its consultation closing on 19th February.

Dempsey said: “We are in a housing crisis, and we desperately need more low cost and social housing for people to live in. But proposals like this are not the answer. We can’t address our housing crisis by putting over a thousand houses into a tiny rural community.

“Hamsey has no services to support a development of that size and has very limited public transport. The area already suffers from congestion at peak times. It encompasses productive agricultural land and it is an area of environmental importance bordering the South Downs National Park.

“Instead of absurd proposals like this, local authorities should be supported to build a new generation of environmentally sustainable, affordable and social housing. But currently, their hands are tied by the national planning system.

“In the short term, Lewes District Council should reject development of this site in its Local Plan. In the longer term, we need major reform to the national planning system, so that sites like this are not considered suitable in the future. Instead, councils should be enabled to deliver housing that puts people before profit.

“For example, local authorities should be given the power to build affordable and social housing themselves, and allowed to borrow to fund them if appropriate.

“I call on other parliamentary candidates for East Grinstead and Uckfield to oppose the development at Hamsey, and support these reforms of a planning system that is currently not working for our communities.”

According to a statement from Lewes District Council: “Our planning team has hosted a series of public consultation events on the Local Plan spatial strategy and policies document during January and February. This included an event in Hamsey on the 16 January.

“The Local Plan will set out the policies and framework for new homes, employment space and community facilities. The plan is evidence led, with technical information gathered by council officers informing where development is appropriate and where it is not.

“Planning officers will collate all the evidence gathered and in due course begin another round of public consultation. The consultation undertaken so far and the consultation still to take place is fundamentally important in the setting of policies for future development in Lewes District.”

The deadline for responses to the consultation is the 19 February.

For more information visit www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/planning-policy