Lewes and Eastbourne Planning Policy Consultations

Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan Focussed Consultation

You’ve been invited to participate in the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan Focussed Consultation consultation by the consultation manager, Lewes and Eastbourne Councils (Mr Michael Payne).

This consultation is open from 16 Apr 2024 at 09:00 to 30 Apr 2024 at 17:00.

Lewes District Council – Planning Policy 

Focused Consultation on the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Development Plan

We are contacting you because you are a statutory consultee, because you have previously made a representation on the submission version of the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan or because you have signed up for updates on matters of planning policy. This plan is currently at the Regulation 17 – examination stage.

In late 2023, Lewes District Council carried out a Regulation 16 consultation exercise on the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan. The consultation closed on 24th November 2023. Subsequent to this, over the 19th and 20th December 2023, the Government published a more comprehensive update to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This now replaces the previous version which formed part of the previous consultation.

Of relevance to Peacehaven and Telscombe, basic condition ‘a). requires that all neighbourhood plans must ‘[have] regard to national policies and advice contained in guidance issued by the Secretary of State.’ While the timing of the events described in the previous paragraph are unfortunate, in conversation with the Examiner, it has been decided that it is necessary to undertake a further period of focused consultation on the Peacehaven and Telscombe NP.

We are therefore inviting further comments on the following question:

Do any of the changes introduced through the new NPPF (Dec 2023) have implications for the Peacehaven and Telscombe NP with regard to it meeting the relevant basic condition test?

Additional guidance notes are provided below. Please read and understand these before deciding whether to respond.

The deadline for submitting a response is 17:00 on 30th April 2024.

Additional Guidance Notes

The National Planning Policy Framework (Dec 2023)

• The latest version of the NPPF can be found on the ‘.gov.uk’ website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework–2

• You may also find the following link useful – https://draftable.com/compare/oNlyoxfptrDJ. This compares the December 2023 NPPF against the September 2023 version. Nb: This link has been widely shared across the planning community. Because it has been prepared by a 3rd Party, Lewes District Council accept no responsibility for any transcription errors therein.

The Basic Conditions

• Planning Practice Guidance on neighbourhood planning provides an overview of the basic condition tests: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/neighbourhood-planning–2#National-policy-and-advice

This focused consultation

• The Peacehaven and Telscombe NP document and basic conditions statement can be found online under the ‘Peacehaven and Telscombe Towns’ heading, sub heading ‘Second Submission (Regulation 15)’ at: www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/ and on the South Downs National Park website: https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/ . In addition, the documents can be found at the bottom of the consultation portal homepage: click here

• As stated, this is a focused consultation exercise. The question being asked is: Do any of the changes introduced through the new NPPF (Dec 2023) have implications for the Peacehaven and Telscombe NP with regard to it meeting the relevant basic condition test?

• If you have previously made representations on this plan that are unaffected by any of the changes to the NPPF, you do not need to re-submit your comments. All representations received during the Regulation 16 consultation stage will be ‘rolled forward’.

• This is not an opportunity to submit new comments or to provide additional information connected to any previously made representation that is not relevant to the question being asked.

• If you decide to submit a representation, please clearly identify which part of the Peacehaven and Telscombe NP this relates to and what change(s) need to be made to ensure that this plan can meet the basic condition test.

• At the end of this consultation exercise, all valid representations will be shared with the Examiner and with Peacehaven and Telscombe Parish Councils. The latter will also be given an opportunity to respond to any new issues raised. Your representation(s) and any response forthcoming from the parish council will be published on our webpage.

Comments should be sent by e-mail to: ldf@lewes.gov.uk or if this is not possible, posted to: Neighbourhood Planning, Planning Policy, 6 High Street, Lewes, BN7 2AD

All comments must arrive by the stated deadline . . . 17:00 on Tuesday 30th April 2024.