Lewes District Council – Press Release on pause and review of Lewes Local Plan
Lewes District Council has put a temporary pause on work to prepare the Local Plan after a government decision to introduce a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and review the previously announced local government reorganisation proposals affecting Lewes District.
The changes have fundamentally altered the planning context in which the Local Plan was prepared and create significant uncertainty around future planning boundaries, housing requirements and infrastructure planning.
The pause will allow officers to undertake a focused review of government changes to national planning policy and seek urgent clarification from Whitehall on the future of local government reorganisation.
Councillor Laurence O’Connor, Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure, said:
“The council has been placed in an extremely difficult and invidious position by the government over recent months. We were asked to plan for one set of administrative boundaries following July’s local government reorganisation announcement, only for that proposal to be turned on its head. At the same time, significant changes to national planning policy have fundamentally altered the landscape in which local plans are prepared and assessed.
“The prudent and responsible course is to undertake a focused review, seek answers from government and ensure that any future plan is robust, defensible at examination and based on the most up-to-date information available.”
Officers will continue to gather evidence, engage with government, and prepare an interim framework to help guide development and infrastructure decisions.
Councillor O’Connor added:
“A plan based on out-of-date national planning policy won’t be worth the paper it is written on. However, if the government is willing to engage constructively with us, we can still deliver a Local Plan that is worthy of all the work so far undertaken, and the many contributions of residents and community groups, to whom I remain hugely grateful.”
Cabinet will consider a report later this year that sets out the findings of the review and recommendations on the future direction of the Local Plan.
