Notice of Public Rights – 22.06.2022

Skate Park on the Green – Barrister’s Report and Instructions – “Barrister’s Findings

It was agreed at the Greens and Amenities Meeting held on Thursday 8th May to publish the findings of the Barrister’s Report and his Instructions. Please click on “Barrister’s Findings” above.

Instructions to Counsel

Ringmer Parish Council has been asked to take part in a consultation regarding land availability to be included in the District Council’s Local Plan. This is the first time that Town and Parish Councils have been able to take part in the Call for Sites consultation. It was upon the recommendation of Cllr Kay as a member of the District Councils Planning Users Group, advised the Planning Officers Town and Parish Councils should be consulted as they have local knowledge regarding any site within the Town or Parish Boundary.

Ringmer Parish Council is working on a response to the consultation, which be submitted to the District Council by the 12th March 2021, as soon as the draft response is available it will be made available as a supporting document for the Planning Committee Meeting which is being held on 11th February 2021. The link to the documents which have been made available to the Parish Council are below:

LDC Local Plan Briefing Note

List of Sites

Map of sites

Land Availability Assessment

Ringmer Parish Council DRAFT response

This will have impact Ringmer given the size and number of sites for development proposed. However, this is not imminent and some of the sites may be discounted.

Background

Lewes District Council has commenced the preparation of a new Local Plan for the part of the District that is outside of the South Downs National Park. The new Local Plan will set out a long-term strategy and policies to manage growth and guide development, and once adopted will be the key planning document against which planning applications will be assessed.

As a key piece of evidence to inform the preparation of the new Local Plan, we are undertaking a Land Availability Assessment (LAA), which is a high level assessment of the potential availability of land for future development, and is used as a starting point to decide where development could take place as part of the Local Plan. It is important to note that the LAA does not in itself determine whether or not a site will be allocated for development – it is the role of the local plan to do this. Similarly, the LAA does not automatically determine whether or not planning permission for a site would be granted.

A ‘Call for Sites’ was undertaken in late 2020 to allow landowners to submit sites for consideration. Through the LAA, we will assess these sites as to whether they are suitable, available and achievable against criteria set out in a methodology. This is a process that we will be undertaking over the next few months.

However, prior to this assessment commencing, we would like to ask Town and Parish Councils to help us by providing information about the sites from your local knowledge to assist us in undertaking the assessment. Please note that the LAA will only be considering sites that are located outside of the South Downs National Park.

Ringmer Parish Council moved to the following address in the summer of 2020:

Ringmer Parish Council, Old School Close, Ringmer, East Sussex, BN8 5RA