Lewes councillors claim Government planning U-turn is "too little too late"

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was forced to re-assess key areas of his planning reforms, including the scrapping of house-building targets, after 60 Conservative MPs threatened to vote against his flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

The Green Party blame these targets for widespread development on greenfield sites which is causing huge local controversy.

Lewes District Green Party councillors welcomed the climb down by the government but said it had taken far too long, demanding that controversial decisions already made on greenfield sites must now be overturned.

Green councillor and parliamentary candidate Emily O’Brien said: “Make no mistake this is an astonishing climbdown, but the question most of us are asking is why on earth has it taken so long? And how many more green field developments will be forced through before new legislation is finally passed?

"In just the last month, government planning inspectors have forced three major green field developments on Ringmer, Wivelsfield and Plumpton Green, against local wishes and local planning policy. The inspectors’ reports make it quite clear in every case that this is purely because of housing targets. I am writing to our MP to ask for her assurance that these decisions will now be overturned.

"It has literally taken over 100 MPs to rebel against their own party for this change to finally take place, when councillors and campaigners have been jumping up and down for years.”

The climbdown on house-building saw Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, agree to change his Bill to make it clear that centrally-dictated targets are merely ‘advisory’.

Following the announcement, Ms Caulfield wrote on Facebook: “Very good news today that the Government has listened to our concerns over the planning issues locally with the standard method to calculate housing numbers to be scrapped.”

The algorithm which determines the housing target for each area was introduced in 2018 and immediately doubled the housing requirement for Lewes District from 348 to 782 houses per year.

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In combination with a 5-year review rule introduced the same year, which councillors say knocked out the protection of Lewes’s Local Plan, the Green Party argue that this legislation has led to a free ride for developers.

Ms Caulfield angered Lewes District councillors in November when she claimed local green spaces were being targeted by developers because when district councillors refused the applications, they are merely overturned by the planning inspector.

Councillors called on the Conservative MP to work with them to tackle the ‘increasingly toxic communications’ on local planning issues.

Ms Caulfield told SussexWorld: “I have been clear I would be voting to scrap housing targets and end the need for the five year land supply to stop the concreting of our countryside and stop the Planning inspector overruling local decisions.

"I am pleased the Government has listened and this will become law, which I am sure everyone welcomes.

"I hope the Green Party will now get their act together at Lewes District council and get the Local Plan done as planning inspectors cite this as being the number one reason for allowing development locally.

"There are no more excuses left for the Green and Liberal Democrats.”