Decision to leave East Chiltington homes proposal out of Lewes draft plan ‘fails local people’, says North Barnes Farm Partnership

Lewes District Council announced last week that the ‘preferred options document’ will be considered at a meeting on Thursday, November 9.

But the council said the North Barnes Farm site, which is promoted by Eton College, will not be consulted upon in this draft because council officers’ assessment said the site is unsuitable.

The news was welcomed by some residents and campaigners but the North Barnes Farm Partnership said it is ‘very disappointed’.

Damon Turner from the North Barnes Farm Partnership said: “The decision to exclude North Barnes Farm fails local people. It fails those who can’t afford a safe and secure home due to the housing shortage. And it fails those living in the coastal towns and the villages of the Low Weald, the locations which will now have to accept even more, less sustainable development.”

The North Barnes Farm Partnership said there is an ‘urgent housing crisis’ in the Lewes district and said the council was not meeting the housing need in full. They said the current Local Plan only offers ‘bolt-on development’.

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Mr Turner said: "Our proposal is the best plan to help tackle the housing, environmental and climate crises. The exclusion of North Barnes Farm is the wrong decision for the future of Lewes and we are carefully considering our next steps.”

A North Barnes Farm Partnership spokesperson said: “With a landowner committed to long term legacy, North Barnes Farm can deliver more infrastructure, more jobs, more community facilities, and greater environmental benefits than other plans for greenfield development in the district. The Council’s alternative options for large-scale development include a proposal to build 4,361 homes across 158 sites in the villages of the Low Weald. This is a worse option than our sustainable new settlement.”

They said the council was committing to ‘blighting many of the villages in the Low Weald with urban extensions that will bring no benefits or wider infrastructure’.

They said: “We remain confident in our plans and it’s not too late for Lewes District Council to change its mind.”