The Draft Revised South Downs Local Plan was produced by the South Downs National Park Authority in its role as the local planning authority, to set out identify where future development will take place, such as new homes and locations for business growth, as well as local requirements (policies) against which planning applications will be judged.
Our response contains comments about some policies, supporting documents and development sites, which were prepared by a small team of the PECAN volunteers. The South Downs Local Plan covers a wide range of policy topics, but the scope of PeCAN’s response was constrained by our resources. Whilst our comments are prompted by our focus on the Petersfield area, we feel that most are also relevant across the whole of the National Park, especially other market towns and larger settlements such as Midhurst, Petworth and Lewes.
We strongly welcome the firm draft policies on Climate Action in the Draft Revised South Downs Local Plan. It is very encouraging to see this version take a much more robust line on these issues. We have suggested some minor improvements.
PLEASE FIND OUR RESPONSE IN FULL HERE
The overall vision should include a reference to climate change mitigation. The Water and Pollution policies are crucial to creating a more resilient local environment, and it is important that new development is resilient to future climate scenarios, such as droughts, higher summer temperatures and extreme weather events.
Trees and natural green spaces are essential features of the urban areas (including Petersfield), where one third of the population of the National Park live, as well as a crucial part of the rural landscape of the South Downs. For the most part, we support the new draft of SD11 (Trees, Woodland, and Hedgerows), but we recommend that this key policy is further strengthened and clarified, with developers in mind.
Transport is the biggest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK and is vital to everyday life. Poorly located and connected new developments seriously hinder healthy lifestyles. Further refinement of the four transport related policies (SD19-SD22) is recommended to clarify these policies and to encourage well-designed infrastructure for walking, cycling and the use of public transport to the maximum extent.
When recently reviewing local planning documents, we have noted a potential for greater coordination in relation to transport and spatial planning. This is important, as without coordination, neither highway authorities nor the planning authorities will be able to deliver new housing which provides residents with transport choices beyond the use of private cars.
While reviewing selected local sites, we found that the main desire lines for everyday utility trips on foot and cycle have been overlooked, with too much focus on the local Public Rights of Way (PRoW) network.
PLEASE FIND OUR RESPONSE IN FULL HERE
