— blank page — Lewes Town Council June 2018 Contents 6 Introduction 7 About This Report 7 Background to the Lewes Neighbourhood Plan 8 Series of Engagement Events 9 Engaging Younger People 9 An Effective Consultation Process 10 Plan Preparation Process 10 Visioning Event 11 Three Day Design Forum 12 Questionnaire Results & Draft Policy Exhibition 12 Draft Planning Policies Consultation Report Exhibition 14 Pre-Submission Consultation 16 Pre-Submission Consultation Responses 18 Revisions Made to the Pre-Submission Version of the Plan 22 Copy of Questionnaire Results Please note copies of this report and other supporting material can be found at www.lewes4all.uk 5 Lewes Town Council June 2018 About This Document It was considered that the branding of the project should highlight community This consultation statement provides a involvement and the LNPSG should be seen summary of the key consultation events that to work at arm’s length, with routine reports were organised as part of the plan-making and recommendations to Council for adoption. process, together with a detailed record of the A list of community organizations had pre-submission consultation comments been agreed, who were invited to nominate received. representatives. This was later extended to include all bodies recorded as members of Background to the Lewes Lewes Town Partnership, as it was considered that this represented a wide range of Neighbourhood Plan appropriate groups who had each demonstrated a desire for community engagement. Lewes Town Council (LTC) announced in 2013 that it intended to produce a Neighbourhood Ninety-seven bodies were asked for Plan for Lewes, under provisions in the representatives and the first meetings of the Localism Act 2011. A series of open public LNPSG saw around 30 attendees, gradually meetings had been held to begin the process. reducing to a kernel of around twelve regular Lewes is a parished area having a separate contributors, some of whom volunteered to Parish Council, and LTC was the lead body work in task-groups on specific topics which and must agree and publish the plan. It has were developed to form elements of the plan. been supported by the South Downs National Terms of reference were recommended and Park Authority (SDNPA) but the actual approved, being based upon a model used definition of the plan’s policy scope and successfully elsewhere in the national park. content reflects the wishes of the community. A significant amount of research had been The plan must ultimately pass through a conducted, and community aspirations statutory process before becoming enforceable explored, by the LNPSG during 2014. This local planning policy: being subject to an gave rise to a clear brief and in early 2015 a independent planning examination and then professional consultant was engaged by the needing to attract more than 50% affirmative council following a formal tender process, to votes in a public referendum. manage the remaining process; helping the LNPSG to identify all relevant data; develop Lewes Town Council had agreed to set up the evidence and obtain public feedback to support Lewes Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group1 a formal plan for Lewes. (LNPSG) as an advisory body to address these ambitions and appointed councillors to form the nucleus of the group. 1 There have been 27 LNPSG meetings over four years and notes of these meetings can be found on http://www.lewes4all.uk/ 7 Ultimately, as a planning policy document with significant legal status, the plan was to incorporate housing site allocations; green infrastructure; community facilities and infrastructure; enhance existing sustainable transport/street routes in and around the town; protect and enhance the built and natural environment, and reflect the aspirations of the community. An interactive workshop event for members Series of Engagement Events of the LNPSG in March 2015 allowed them to share their own thoughts and ideas on a Lewes Town Council is keen to ensure that range of topics. the final neighbourhood plan reflects local opinions and local needs. To ensure that public 3/ Three-Day Design Forum for the public held engagement and consultation was effective, on 30th June, 1st and 2nd July 2015. This examined input from the community has been sought at how change can be accommodated, designed, every stage and this has been invaluable to the and planned in Lewes. production of the neighbourhood plan. 4/ A 100+ page Interim Report was produced Work on the Lewes Neighbourhood Plan began in July 2015, based on the work during the first in early 2014 when the designated boundary for half of the year. This was subject to an online the Lewes Neighbourhood Plan was approved questionnaire over the summer months. by the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA). Since early 2015, Lewes Town 5/ A poster exhibition held on 8th and 9th Council and the (Lewes Neighbourhood PLan October 2015 to inform local residents of the Steering Group (LNPSG) has been assisted in questionnaire responses and to gather further its work by Feria Urbanism, an urban design responses and reactions. and planning practice based in Bournemouth. 6/ A further poster exhibition was held on 19th The team organised and ran several key events and 20th November 2015, sharing the evolving to engage the community: ideas with the public and setting out a series of 1/ An interactive workshop event for members draft planning policies. There was particular of the LNPSG on 26th March 2015 to share their involvement from the students of Priory School own thoughts and ideas on a range of topics. at this event. 2/ A visioning event for the public held on 4th Copies of materials (e.g. task sheets, posters, June 2015 examined the critical issues in some slide shows etc) from all the consultation detail. events can be found on the Lewes4All website 2 2 http://www.lewes4all.uk/ 8 Lewes Neighbourhood Plan Consultation Statement Lewes Town Council June 2018 Engaging Younger People An Effective Consultation Process As set out in Section 14 (a) of the 2012 Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations, consultation on the plan and plan-making process must be brought to the attention of the people who live or work in the town. In response to this aspect of the regulations, the neighbourhood plan process in Lewes has been designed to encourage members of the community to shape discussions and form dialogues with fellow residents, with land owners and with other interest groups. The result has been that the different groups involved in the process have all been able to find shared outcomes. During the plan preparation stages, there have been a series of consultation and engagement events that have directly influenced the Poster advertising the two dedicated drafting of this plan. All consultation material weekends aimed at younger people relating to these events (e.g. slide shows, reports and posters) have been published online during the plan preparation. From the Following the series of open public events outset, Lewes Town Council and the LNPSG held during 2015, there were two dedicated weekend sessions targeting the involvement of younger people. In part, these were a response to the fact the 2015 events were predominantly attended by older people. These targetted sessions were designed and delivered by staff at the University of Brighton on Saturday 12th and 19th March 2016. The results can be found on a dedicated page 3 on the Community 21 Young Digital Citizenship website. A 100+ page Interim Report was produced in July 2015, based on the work during the first 3 https://community21.org/partners/ half of the year. This was subject to an online lewes/ questionnaire over the summer months. 9 has tried to ensure that a broad cross-section of While the search for housing land was an the local community has been involved in the integral part of the process in 2015, it had plan-making process. not been able to identify land suitable for allocation in the draft plan. The consultation and engagement process has been open and transparent and interest The LNPSG met in September 2016 and groups such as land owners, local developers prioritised identification of housing sites and representatives of local businesses have all to meet the numbers required, following been included in the process. All these groups identification of the strategic sites in the Joint are considered appropriate consultation bodies Core Strategy. This work was concluded in to include, as defined in the neighbourhood March 2017. A Sustainability Appraisal of the planning (General) Regulations Regulation draft plan was undertaken between January Schedule 1. 2017 and April 2017. This has further informed the vision, objectives, and planning policies. The planning team at South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) has provided a The pre-submission consultation ran between detailed response to the Regulation 14 pre- 8th May and 21st June 2017. Comments received submission draft which helped Lewes Town during this time have informed the creation of Council and the LNPSG revise the plan to get the submission version of the plan. it ready for submission. Visioning Event 4th June 2015 Plan Preparation Process The work in 2015 was very much focused around the need to gather a range of views on the future of Lewes through a consultation process. The events in March, June, July, October and November 2015 were designed to understand community opinions and refine them into a workable set of plan ingredients. There follows a summary of each of these events. In the first half of 2016, work was A visioning event for the public held in June undertaken to refine the ingredients and 2015 examined various issues in some detail. begin developing more fully-formed planning policies. In parallel, work was undertaken This evening event asked the community by the LNPSG to identify land for housing several key questions about both the that could successfully be allocated in the community and about the place.