Controversial plan for bus station demolition and 35 new homes in Lewes gets green light from South Downs National Park Authority

South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) announced on Thursday, September 12, that members of its Planning Committee voted to approve plans for the former Lewes bus station in Eastgate Street.

They said approval is subject to the completion of Section 106 legal agreement.

The SDNPA said The Generator Group now has permission to build 35 homes – three houses and 32 flats – and 198m2 of commercial floorspace.

Mike Hughes, Planning Director (Interim) of the SDNPA, said: “This is a planning application that has attracted a great deal of public interest and understandably so, given its strategic position in thriving and historic Lewes.”

The plan involves demolishing the former bus station. Lewes Town Council’s Planning Committee had strongly objected to it, raising concerns about plans for alternative bus facilities on the southern side of Phoenix Causeway.

Mayor of Lewes Imogen Makepeace said before the decision: “We are bitterly disappointed that this plan has been recommended for approval by the South Downs National Park Authority’s officers.”

She said: “The Park’s own condition that the Bus Station be relocated to a fully functional and accessible location is not being upheld. Instead they apparently believe that three bus stops either side of a busy 30mph road complies.”

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Councillor Makepeace said: “Every elected representative of this town has opposed this plan, which would set a devastating national precedent for dismissing public transport services within a national park.”

She added: “The elderly, the families with small children outside of the town centre and the disabled people are some of those who need a safe place to change buses.”

Peter Earl, trustee of the Friends of Lewes, said called the decision ‘possibly the worst planning decision made in Lewes since the Town and Country Planning Act provisions came into force in 1948’. He said: “The replacement building involves an ugly overbearing structure on a gateway site with features and materials that conflicts with the National Park’s recently approved ‘Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan’ and their adopted Design Guide (2022).”

He added: “The SDNPA refer to Lewes as ‘the jewel in the National Park’ but on the basis of this building, and the importance of its location, it will be tarnished forever as will be this part of the historic core to our Conservation area.”

Lewes resident and Save Lewes Bus Station campaigner Susanne Wolf said: “The SDNPA planning committee has insulted thousands of people by ignoring their needs and concerns and are jeopardising the move towards a sustainable future.”

The Generator Group, the site’s owner, had submitted a previous application that was rejected by the committee in 2022. But they submitted a revised one in July 2023.

The SDNPA said the Eastgate bus station has been closed for more than a year and said the developer must now provide £291,000 towards alternative bus facilities on the southern side of Phoenix Causeway as soon as the new development begins. They said the new bus provision will be delivered by ESCC and will include two bus stops with shelters and real-time passenger information on the southern side of The Causeway. The SDNPA added that there would be three more bus stops with shelters, real-time information, a kiosk and toilet facilities on the northern side of The Causeway, provided by Human Nature Ltd as part of the 685-home Phoenix development.

The SDNPA said the site is allocated for development in the adopted South Downs Local Plan, which says any development must provide an operationally satisfactory alternative to the bus station.

Mike Hughes said: “It’s a complex application for a key brownfield site that has been allocated for development for over a decade, including most recently in the South Downs Local Plan.

“We understand bus services and good infrastructure are a priority for local people and that’s why there is a very detailed and robust legal agreement attached to the planning permission, with a substantial financial contribution to help deliver the high-quality and safe bus infrastructure the town needs. Together with the Phoenix, this development will make use of a brownfield site, delivering much-needed housing and commercial opportunities for the town and local communities.”