Three consultations affecting Lewes – have your say!
The ‘global heat map’ of cyclists plotting their routes on Strava in and around Lewes.
Cycle Lewes have prepared the following primer to the two draft Local Plans plus an East Sussex County Council Highways consultation on a Rights of Way Access Plan. The latter is simply an online questionnaire, which will be available for comment later in the year. The links to all three documents are included below.
Neither of the two Local Plans are suited to a bullet point summary, so we have provided a quick access route to the relevant sections so that anyone can quickly access the sections related to cycling. Given its 86 pages of text, the SDNP has surprisingly little to say about cycling, or sustainable travel generally. The LDC Local Plan is marginally better, but most of the worthy aspirations are left to developers to deliver. To do this effectively, there needs to be a co-ordinated network – both existing and proposed - of cycling/walking routes so that CIL payments can be directed effectively.
Here are the links:
https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning-policy/the-south-downs-local-plan-review/
https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/article/1832/Lewes-District-Core-Strategy-Local-Plan-Part-1
https://consultation.eastsussex.gov.uk/economy-transport-environment/rights-of-way-access-plan/
SDNP Local Plan Review
Overview
The Vision (page 6) sets out in five short paragraphs where the SDNP wants to be in 2050. This is amplified by a list of nine strategic objectives (page 6).
Pages 7 – 91 set out in more detail, through 8 policies, how this will be achieved.
Pages relevant to Cycle Lewes are:
Page 74 - Sustainable Tourism.
Page 79 – Green Infrastructure.
Page 85 – Walking/Wheeling, Cycling and Equestrian Routes.
Page 87 – Transport and Accessibility
Page 88 – Public Realm
Commentary
‘Vision’ makes no reference to sustainable transport (public transport, walking/wheeling, cycling and horse riding) or to connectivity between settlements.
There is no overarching vision of a co-ordinated network of walking/cycling routes, both within the National Park and connected to other routes beyond the park.
The 8 policies are reactive rather than proactive and put the burden of any improvements on future developers. This will ensure that active travel and non-motorised routes are prioritised within the development site, but will leave only piecemeal improvements outside the site, funded by CIL payments.
The course of the Lewes to Uckfield railway line is ‘safeguarded for future restoration to (its) historic use’. There is no mention of its potential as a non-motorised route linking Lewes to Uckfield, providing a safe route out of Lewes to the north-west.
Whilst the importance of tourism to the local economy is highlighted, there are no proposals for the completion or improvement of existing walking/cycling routes that would benefit cycle tourists (Egrets Way/Avenue Verte Paris – London via Lewes; RCR 90 through Lewes for example).
Lewes District Local Plan
Overview:
‘Vision and Aims’ (pages 24-28) sets out where LDC wants to be by 2040. Note that the Local Plan excludes the large central section of the District within the South Downs National Park.
Pages 44-199 set out in more detail, through 9 themes, how this will be achieved. Each theme is amplified by more detailed policies.
Pages relevant to Cycle Lewes are:
Page 36 – Achieving Sustainable Development
Page 41 – Settlement Hierarchy.
Page 44 – Climate Change.
Page 162 – Visitor Economy.
Page 166 – Development Principles.
Page 188 – Sustainable Transport and Movement.
Commentary
Like the SDNP Local Plan, the burden of improvements is placed on new developments, which are required to ‘minimise carbon emissions, put active travel ahead of reliance on the private car.’ As with the SDNP, only piecemeal improvements outside the site will be funded by CIL payments.
Reference is made on page 26 to the wider environment: ‘ensuring that, where possible, new development is designed to reduce car use by increasing the use of the most sustainable transport modes – walking and cycling through new cycleways and walkways that link our villages and settlements’. No mention of how these new cycleways are to be achieved, nor how they will interconnect.
Page 26 ‘we will work with East Sussex County Council and transport providers to increase public transport capacity and access ability as well as improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists between our towns and villages’. Fine words, but where is the overarching vision of a co-ordinated network of walking/cycling routes?
Page 41 – ‘we want to encourage a shift in how people move around and move away from the private car, as this will not only help with meeting our carbon and Net Zero ambitions but also help towards delivering the goals set in the East Sussex Local Transport 4’. See comment above.
Page 188 – ‘New development will be supported where it meets the following requirements:…delivers an inclusive integrated active travel network…including the provision of new routes/filling in gaps in connectivity.’ See comment above.
Comments applying to both Local Plans
Both plans set out worthy aspirations, but are reliant for their delivery on future developments, which will be compliant within their own sites but can only make modest contributions (via CIL payments) to the wider environment. Whilst there are strategies for future settlements, there are no strategies for achieving connectivity between them for non-motorised travel, nor for a co-ordinated network of walking/cycling routes across the whole SDNP/LDC area. These should be included in both Local Plans.
We should remember that East Sussex County Council commissioned Sustrans to produce a comprehensive strategy for cycling and walking across the county (East Sussex Cycling and Walking Strategy - Lewes LCWIP – published 2018). Cycle Lewes was among many bodies widely consulted in the preparation of the report. This should surely be referenced in both Local Plans and serve as a framework for future transport planning.