Wealden Local Plan Issues and Recommendations September 2015 - Exhibition

This is all rather big and complicated but the Neighbourhood Plan will eventually have to sit alongside it so it is a good idea to have your say.

You can find all the resources here on the Wealden web site

I'm not going through everything. I'm just going to summarize answers to questions I asked at the exhibition.  BEWARE that it is entirely possible that I have mangled answers.

Note: I am adding information I have acquired after the exhibition.
Blue items are further info from Wealden
Orange items are my own reading.

Need for a Plan

Answer (27 Oct): If Wealden doesn't create an acceptable plan within the next couple of years, Central Government will impose one.

What the options etc. mean

(27 Oct)
Issue - that is simple enough it just indicates what we are talking about (e.g. landscape)

Option
Question: What do the numbered options mean?
Answer: They represent everything that has to be considered by law. They are assessed in the Sustainability Assessment (SA) against the objectives listed in the SA.

Preferred option for testing
Question: What does this mean?
Answer: This the option(s) that will be taken forward to the next stage.  The SA shows which have been chosen.

Sustainable Development (p21)

Glossary says: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

(27 Oct) I asked for  a more precise definition.  Apparently Wealden haven't really gone beyond this. The phrase comes from the Bruntland report. It is possible to find out online what the general meaning is.  The meaning embraces:

• close to public transport
• level of services
• green spaces
• improving public transport.

Housing Market (p31, 8.8)

Question: We seem to be willing to step up and offer more than our fair share of housing if neighbouring areas can't/won't make their share. Why?

Answer  (27 Oct): SHMA (Strategic Housing Market Assessment) => Our housing need from demographic and economic figures.  We have a legal duty to cooperate with our neighbours. However they must prove that they cannot meet their housing need.

Ashdown Forest (p36, 8.32)

Question: Why would Wealden need/want an option that does not seek to protect Ashdown Forest?
Answer  (27 Oct) : Need to consider the possibility while testing but not considered reasonable at the moment.

New Settlement and Large Urban Extension (p43, Fig 4)

Question: What are the numbers for the settlements near Uckfield.
Answer  (27 Oct) : Please see SA.

8 Nov: The SA Part 1, Section 4.6.4 (page 90) says:
Isfield – 5,000 dwellings
West of A22, Uckfield – 4,000 dwellings
North west of A22 – 5,000 dwellings
Maresfield – 5,000 dwellings.

South Wealden Housing Option (p51, Fig 5)

Answer: Preferred option - protects Ashdown Forest.

Multi Centre Housing Option - Towns (p54, Table 7)

Question: What does the 920 against Uckfield mean?
Answer  (27 Oct) : This will be considered if the need to protect Ashdown Forest goes away.
Uckfield will get 920 more houses on top of Ridgewood - NOT CERTAIN - QUESTION WITH WEALDEN.

Question (6 Nov):I want to recheck an answer in case I misunderstood.  Multi Centre Housing Option - Towns (p54, Table 7).  There is a figure of 920 for “Number of additional dwellings (Including Outstanding Core Strategy Growth”).  My understanding is that the 920 is ON TOP of the approximately 1,000 earmarked for the Ridgewood Farm development. Is that correct?
Answer: In regards to your original questions and question 3 in particular regarding the multi centre housing Option, the 920 would be in addition to the 1,000 allocated to Uckfield already. This is because the multi centre housing Option considers housing growth in the District if the issues with the Ashdown Forest did not exist. In that scenario Uckfield could accommodate more housing. We had to include it within the document as although it is not a reasonable option at present, it could be a suggested approach if the Ashdown Forest issues did not exist. The Preferred Option for Testing as you will see does not adopt this approach and does not seek to allocate any more housing in Uckfield above the 1,000 dwellings.

Development Boundary (p90)

Question: It says "incorporation where appropriate of intervening greenfield land." Does this mean the green space would be built on?
Answer  (27 Oct) : No. It means that development comes under the development rules rather than the tougher countryside rules.

Town and Village Centres - Uckfield (p135)

Question (6 Nov): I am looking at the Preferred Option for Testing 13 - Uckfield Town Centre.  It is talking about the "Town Centre Boundary".  Is this the same as the "Town Centre area" shown on Map 28 – Uckfield Town Centre?
Answer (6 Nov): In terms of the “Town Centre Boundary” and the “Town Centre Area” terminology, they do indeed refer to the same thing and it is just a difference in the terminology.

Landscape (p221)

8 Nov: They refer to The Wealden Landscape and Settlement Character Assessment (November 2014)

Dog Gym (p313)

Question: What is it?
Answer (27 Oct) : An outside area with some simple obstacles for exercising dogs.

Consultation Portal

Following up from query at Exhibition
Question (6 Nov): The consultation portal says “Please read the ‘Guidance Notes for Respondents’ in the ‘Supporting Documents’ tab below before making any comments.”
However I cannot see a document of this name in the Supporting Documents
Recheck portal in about a week.

Shoreham - Uckfield Pays its Respects

I love it when the air shows are on in the summer. We get aircraft of all sorts passing our way going to or from the different events. There was no reason to expect that the 22nd of August, 2015, would be different to any other summer Saturday.

Then the news starting filtering through on Twitter. Something had happened. It was possible that a couple of people had died.  Knowing social media's tendency to exaggerate, I did a quick fact check. Several sources, notably BBC Sussex and AirLive.net confirmed that a Hawker Hunter had crashed. Suddenly my feeds were full of images of fire and smoke.

As the hours and days went by, the news got progressively worse. Late on Sunday afternoon a rather forlorn trickle of aircraft passed over. In the end it was established that 11 people died and many were injured.

The people of Shoreham commemorated the victims of this appalling tragedy by placing flowers on Shoreham's old toll bridge.  Soon it was announced that a one minute silence would be held. In Uckfield, people were soon asking questions - Would the maroon be fired? Should people gather in the town?

James Anderson, local councillor and shopkeeper, stepped into the breach and organised the minute's silence. And so more than 100 of us found ourselves just outside Hartfields in the middle of the town waiting for the first maroon. 

People gathering outside Hartfields.

I moved round taking photos as unobtrusively as possible. I was touched to hear a mother explaining to her small children why it was important to stay silent after 'the big bang'.  As the Deputy Mayor, Duncan Bennet gave a poignant explanation of what was happening, a white butterfly flew just above the group of councillors.

Uckfield Town Councillors.

As the first maroon sounded, James Anderson stepped forward and mounted the wreath on the town sign pole.

Wreath provided by staff at Miss Bloomsbury.

Even the clatter of cutlery at the outside tables stopped and some of the diners stood up. For one long minute, we reflected on what had happened and honoured everyone who had been involved with the Shoreham tragedy. When the second maroon sounded it was time for the town to get back to its usual bustling self.

Crowds dispersing.