Peacehaven & Telscombe Neighbourhood Development Plan Consultation Opens

The draft Peacehaven & Telscombe Neighbourhood Development Plan (NP) is now ready for consultation with local residents and groups from the 1st February to 14th March.

The NP is a planning document for the local area, that once adopted through a formal process can be used by communities and planning departments to help shape neighbourhoods for the future.

The document will be used to determine future planning applications up to 2030, can encourage greater investment in the area and will entitle local Town Councils to receive 25% of the Community Infrastructure Levy created in the NP area.

The overarching vision is: “Peacehaven and Telscombe Towns aim to be sustainable, with clean air and an environment providing a good quality of life for all inhabitants and neighbourhoods.”

Underpinning the vision is the concept of 20-minute neighbourhoods – a compact and connected place where residents and workers can easily access services that meet most of their daily needs by foot, by bike (e-bike and e-scooters) or buggy. Additional services can easily be accessed by public transport, taxi or car.

The neighbourhood plan also sets out the important Local Green Spaces and Views that residents would like to see protected, and areas where development that meets local needs for affordable homes, jobs and leisure can be met.

The two town councils would like resident’s views on the Neighbourhood Plan Vision, Objectives, Policies and Projects set out in summary in a leaflet and in full online at: www.peacehaven-and-telscombe-neighbourhood-plan-steering-group.co.uk. There are paper response forms available to collect from the two council offices or to complete online (with links from Facebook and the website).

There will be an online presentation and Question and Answer session online at 7pm on 10th February (which will be posted on the website afterwards) and drop-in sessions at Peacehaven Town Council on Wednesday 16th February 2pm to 7pm and at Telscombe Civic Centre on 21st February 1pm to 4.30pm.

All the comments that are received from the residents are collated, the NP amended if needed, and then this is submitted to the Lewes District Council for them to consult formally with neighbouring Councils and landowners.

Comments received and a final copy of the NP will be sent to an Examiner appointed by Lewes and the two town councils who will test the robustness of the policies against the evidence and will report back.

If the Examiner is happy that the NP is sound, the Town Councils with the District Council will take the final copy to a local referendum where people can vote on whether to adopt the plan formally.

If adopted, the plan will continue to be reviewed and updated until 2030 when a new plan will be needed. This is start of an on-going living document that will help Peacehaven and Telscombe manage future growth in the area.

Cathy Gallagher, Chair of Steering Group

www.peacehaven-and-telscombe-neighbourhood-plan-steering-group.co.uk

Facebook: Peacehaven & Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan

Twitter: @TelscombePlan

Email: ptsteergroup@yahoo.co.uk

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Information on the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Development Plan can be found by clicking on the following link to the Steering Group’s website:- https://www.peacehaven-and-telscombe-neighbourhood-plan-steering-group.co.uk/

The Steering Group is currently asking residents to take part in a consultation on the Meridian Centre site re-development, so please click here:- Take part in the consultation on the Meridian Centre site re-development

The Peacehaven & Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Terms of Reference can be found here: NDP Terms of Reference

 

What is a neighbourhood plan?

In 2011 the Localism Act reformed the planning system to enable local people more say in determining how their local areas are developed. This has enabled local groups to work with Town Councils to set out a vision for the places they live, study and work.
This can include identifying where you think new homes, shops, leisure facilities or employment opportunities are to be built and what these buildings should look like within the local area.
A Neighbourhood Plan will give local people an increased ability to influence planning decisions in the local area, and as such will need to be representative of the people that work and live in the towns.
Peacehaven and Telscombe Town Council have already started an early part of this process by having the two towns defined as a Neighbourhood Planning Area, but the Town Councils would like to enlist the assistance of local people within the local community to help ensure that the vision created is one that is representative of the local area.

What are the benefits of producing a neighbourhood plan

It is not compulsory for Town Councils to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan, however there are a number of benefits which may make developing a Neighbourhood Plan desirable.
Preparing a Neighbourhood Plan will help the community play a greater role in creating the future of your local area, it can help shape employment growth, housing, education and health provision.
It will bring local residents, businesses, local groups, landowners and Councils together to share ideas and build a consensus about what needs to be done in the local community. IT’S OUR COMMUNITY We need to start working out how we want our towns to be developed and what we need to provide for future generations. We need your help to work with the Telscombe and Peacehaven Town Councils to develop a plan which will be used to help make planning decisions in the future.

The Vision

Our vision is for Peacehaven and Telscombe towns to be sustainable, with clean air and an environment which provides a good quality of life for all inhabitants.

​Key Objectives

A refocused Town Centre on the Meridian Site including retail, leisure and food and drink outlets, small business units essential for sustainable living. Safe pedestrian walkways, cycle pathways to access all areas within the built-up areas and the countryside. New housing aimed at local needs including low cost long term rentals.

Update

A neighbourhood plan is being prepared which will set out a vision for how we, the people of Peacehaven and Telscombe, would like to live, work, study and play up to and beyond 2030.

Two and a half years in, the process is well underway. Following the “First Conversation” and a series of public exhibitions in 2018 and 2019, your feedback was that you wanted a plan that would help improve:

– transport and air quality
– enhance the area’s character with better design
– address climate and coastal change
– diversify the economy with more local jobs, and
– that you wanted change at the Meridian Centre.
The steering group gathered further evidence and information in 2019 including a formal ‘call for sites’ from local landowners. They then commissioned international civil engineering consultants AECOM to undertake assessments of all the sites (paid for through a grant) and published a report in September 2019 (see Documents page of the website).

In early 2020, with the help of their professional advisors, the steering group commissioned post-graduate students at the University of Brighton to undertake a series of studies, including policy recommendations, on the issues you wanted the plan to address (see above).These are available to view on the Documents page of the website.

The steering group also commissioned a Masterplan from an urban design team at AECOM (paid for through a further grant) and undertook a survey of residents for ideas for the Meridian Centre to inform the Masterplan. The Masterplan includes four different scenarios with a new pedestrian street and squares; areas for markets, street trees and small parks; shops, cafes and restaurants; town houses and apartments (a proportion that will be affordable) and a smaller supermarket.

A summary of the Masterplan will be sent to every household (December 2020) with the Steering Group’s preferred scenario explained. You can view the full Masterplan by clicking on this link. Please complete the survey telling us your views.

The steering group is now drawing up the first chapters of the draft Neighbourhood Plan starting with Environment and Green Spaces. The intention is to publish a draft Neighbourhood Plan for consultation later in 2021.

 

1. First conversation – April 2018

With the help of Planning Consultants Homer O’ Neil a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities ,Threats) analysis of the plan area was carried out.
A series of meetings have been held and initial Steering Group has been set up. You can see the members of the steering group here.
To help us a Consultancy Group were commissioned who are O’Neill Homer. An analysis of the Plan Area was undertaken for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threates (SWOT).
The A259 issues, lack of infrastructure were quickly identified and from there 3 possible Futures were identified.
Public exhibitions were then held.

Please click below to view the first conversation Exhibition Boards:
Exhibition Boards

2. Results of the first conversation

The feedback forms and an online survey results were evaluated and ‘Future 2 – Redefining the Meridan Centre’ was most popular, followed closely by ‘Future 3 – A new Centre for a New Town’

Please click below to view the first conversation survey results:
Survey Results

The Steering Group is currently asking residents to take part in a consultation on the Meridian Centre site re-development, so please click here:- Take part in the consultation on the Meridian Centre site re-development

Guidelines for Peacehaven and Telscombe to help developers, landowners and the Town Council understand the
expectations on design for the area have been published by the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan
(NDP) steering group- Presentation Design Guides