CALL TO RE-WRITE SOUTH EAST PLAN

The South East Plan is schizophrenic, says the Chief Executive of the county's leading conservation organisation as he calls for it to be scrapped and re-written.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Jul 2006, 19:09 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 22:42 BST

The SE Plan is a major planning document that will determine development in the region for the next 20 years.

Proposals put forward in the recently published plan have Dr Tony Whitbreak, who leads the Sussex Wildlife Trust, disappointed and dismayed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He is critical of the 'old-fashioned' economic approach given to issues such as housing, business development and road schemes, claiming decision makers have failed to address the need for sustainable development.

Dr Whitbread has labelled the plan schizophrenic '“ creating an irreconcilable tension between environmental protection and economic growth.

He said: 'Background work to the plan has shown that the ecological footprint of the SE Region (i.e. the amount of land that we need to provide us with resources and soak up man-made pollution) is 29 times our physical area! In other words, we need an area about the size of France to support our lifestyles.'

Dr Whitbread continued. 'The plan is supposedly led by cross-cutting policies to achieve sustainable development, reduce our ecological footprint, control climate change and deliver environmental enhancement. These 'good words' at the beginning of the document are quickly forgotten when the plan goes on to set levels for house building, business development and road schemes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

'The Sussex coast is a good example. If taken as a whole, the level of development set would be greater than the size of Worthing. How will the SE Plan overcome the fact that there are internationally important wildlife sites, strategic gaps, flood zones and a future National Park in the way of developing our already over-crowded coastal strip?

'Simple', continues Dr Whitbread, 'There is a policy tucked away that says planners can ignore restrictions if they like. The 'good words' at the start of the SE Plan are a smokescreen '“ the actual results will be that the environment will continue to be degraded and people's lives will become worse. This is not sustainable development.

'I am calling for an immediate re-write of the SE Plan to provide a clear lead for an environmentally sustainable economy. Economy, society and environment should be working in harmony '“ not fighting against each other.'

Related topics:ProposalsSussex