Rother Local Plan 2020-2040 Consultation

Rother District Council are preparing the new ROTHER LOCAL PLAN, which will guide development and land use in the area. They are currently consulting on the draft version of the Local Plan.

Update  Ewhurst Parish Council have submitted the following comments to Rother District Council in response to its consultation on the draft Local Plan, following the Council meeting on 17 July:

Ewhurst Parish Council (EPC) is of the view that there is little of concern within the Draft Rother District Local Plan, therefore, these comments focus on where EPC considers resources and attention should be prioritised.
EPC will consider any applications for development on the potential development sites (residential and business) identified in the HELAA within the Parish of Ewhurst on their merits at the time of submission. However, it is strongly of the opinion that, in respect of proposed residential development:
1 Adequate and accessible infrastructure should exist – or be put in place before, or shortly after, developments are completed.
2 Size, type, location, affordability and tenure mix should reflect local (at parish level) need.
3 (Where applicable) Size, type, location and design should cause no harm to the High Weald National Landscape.

Infrastructure
Ewhurst Parish suffers from an inadequate and unreliable supply of electricity. Outages also impact the supply of (pumped) mains water. Schools in the catchment area are at capacity and public transport options are limited.
EPC would support a requirement that those applying for consent for development for a certain number (?6) units of accommodation should provide evidence of engagement with infrastructure providers – especially health and medical services if dwellings targeted at older people are proposed.

Housing
The nationwide chronic shortage of affordable or social accommodation is well–documented and one that is felt acutely in rural areas – with younger parishioners being forced to relocate. EPC considers that – along with ensuring adequate infrastructure is in place – as far as possible, the Plan should be constructed in such a way so as to improve the likelihood of cheaper (at least carbon neutral) accommodation being provided, albeit in the right place.
The increasing tendency for developers to assert that 30% affordable housing is unachievable and, in fact, that even one unit of affordable accommodation would render a development unviable should be challenged regularly by Rother District Council (RDC) by way of commissioning independent viability assessments.
In order to ensure that the right type of accommodation is provided, in parishes with development boundaries, RDC should revert to its previous practice or commissioning regular local housing need surveys and encourage developers to reflect the findings within their proposed schemes.

Ewhurst Parish Council will be considering its response to the Rother District Local Plan 2020-2040 consultation at its meeting on Wednesday 17 July at the Village Hall, 7pm.

It is a lengthy document – so, to make it easier for you to find the content that is directly relevant to our Parish, we have extracted the Northern Rother section.

New-Local-Plan_Reg-18_version_Final P156-162

Related to the Local Plan is the Draft Housing & Economic Land Availability Assessment – which includes identified and possible development sites – and we have extracted the sections covering Ewhurst Green, Staplecross and Cripps Corner.

HELAA-Part-2-CHAPTER-5-P30-37

The simplest way of making comments to Rother District Council on both documents is to email draftlocalplan@rother.gov.uk by 23 July 2024. Please copy us in using clerk@ewhurstparishcouncil.gov.uk

You can also attend our meeting on Wednesday 17 July to let us know your views.

You can find out more about the plan, and access the full document here:

Rother Local Plan 2020-2040 Consultation

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