Local Planning

Most planning decisions are made at local district or unitary council level (or borough - no real difference). Councils take direction and guidance from CLG, Government Office and Regional Planning Bodies through PPSs, PPGs and the Regional Plan (see National and Regional pages). Also, through statutory consultees (such as the county council, Environment Agency, Natural England etc).

Previously, a Local Plan was produced which set out the area's policies for issues such as transport, housing and the environment. However, a shake up of national planning policy in 2004 made major changes to the way the system operates. It forced planning authorities to put together new Statutory Development Plans. These consists of a combination of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS - South East Plan as mentioned on the Regional page, replacing the County Council Structure Plans) and a local statutory plan produced by District, Borough and Unitary Council and usually a LDF Core Strategy or Adopted Local Plan (if not superseded by the LDF).

An LDF must conform generally to the South East Plan and put the emphasis on development. It includes a number of constituent elements (dictated by PPS12 - see PPS summary page) including Development Plan Documents (DPD) such as the Core Strategy of Development Control Policies. In order to prepare the Core Strategy, Councils need to undertake key studies and assessments which form the evidence base for the Plan. These include the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), Sustainability Appraisal and others. They also have to undertake ongoing community involvement.

Coalition government update
The new government has recently suspended the central housing allocation demands, which were directed through the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS - South East Plan) and expected over seventeen thousand new properties in Mid Sussex in the next few years. They have announded that there will be a shake up in planning laws in the near future, which will abolish all RSSs. This is great news for Cuckfield, which has been beseiged by developers in recent years, using housing supply requirements as the key reason why development should proceeed, at the expense of the environment and local views (eg Bylanes).

As a result of the government's announcements, MSDC has abandoned attempts to adopt their Core Strategy (a key document in the Local Development Framework - see here for details on this) which has proved so troublesome and so potentially damaging to local areas.

Further announcements are expected in the near future.