31st March 2021
New streets and squares for centre of Peacehaven supported in survey!
Responses to a survey on ideas for the centre of Peacehaven have shown that residents in Peacehaven and Telscombe (including East Saltdean) rank a new supermarket, shops and cafes of highest importance with 60% supporting new pedestrian streets and squares for the new centre.
The developer Henry Davidson Developments (HDD) is currently consulting on their own proposals however the original Masterplan (a set of ideas for the area) commissioned by Peacehaven and Telscombe Town Councils shows that people surveyed were lukewarm about proposals for new town houses, flats, sheltered housing and a care home.
The 844 responses generated 2327 separate pieces of data to be analysed, so give a real insight into residents’ views. Other highlights from the survey include:
• Asked about what type of affordable housing should be made available people ranked shared ownership (1st) followed by discounted market homes (2nd), social rent (3rd) and sheltered housing (4th).
• People generally supported more activities and facilities for young people.
• There was also strong support of a new business or enterprise hub on the Hoyle Road industrial estate.
• However, a majority didn’t support the Masterplan overall.
Further analysis suggests that this was because of opposition to new housing without improvements to roads, particularly the A259, and social infrastructure such as more GPs and Dentists. People were also concerned about losing a big supermarket and having to travel to Brighton or Newhaven for their weekly shop. They wanted more competition for the Co-op and also wanted more independent shops, cafes and restaurants. They also wanted an improved community centre and library facilities. There was also support for retaining trees and improving green spaces and the appearance of the centre in general.
Cllr Cathy Gallagher who chairs the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group said: “While we note that a slight majority were opposed to the Masterplan overall, we were pleased that they liked the vision of new pedestrian streets and squares. We understand that people are worried about more homes being built without the infrastructure in place to support new and existing residents but have to be realistic – without new homes, none of the proposed improvements can happen. We will continue to listen to residents’ views as we develop the policies and projects and feed these into the draft Neighbourhood Plan which we hope to publish later in the summer.”
The full Consultation Survey Report can be found at:
https://bit.ly/3dmP3UX
Overleaf is the preferred Peacehaven Centre Masterplan Vision (3.2) that residents and stakeholders were asked to comment on. The table that follows (Figure 3) sets out the number of homes and the amount of commercial space including apartments, town houses and terraced homes, car parking, a new supermarket with “green roof”, potential new location for the community centre and library.
The Masterplan was commissioned by Peacehaven and Telscombe Town Councils and drawn up by international planning consultants AECOM. The Masterplan was funded by the Government as part of its support for Neighbourhood Plans across England.
Despite the pandemic, great efforts were made to consult residents on their views. A summary leaflet and response form were distributed to every home and articles on the Masterplan featured on Facebook and Twitter, in the local press and newsletters. The full plan was made available on the two town councils’ and steering group’s websites with links to an online survey.