- Tel: 01273 589777
Steering Group Committee Members:- Cllr Cathy Gallagher, Chair of Steering Group ** Cllr Laurence O’Connor, Vice-Chair of Steering Group ** Cllr David Judd, Telscombe Town Councillor ** Cllr Keira Gordon-Garrett, Peacehaven Town Councillor ** George Dyson, Peacehaven Town Clerk ** Stella Newman, Telscombe Town Clerk
WHAT IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN?
In 2011 the Localism Act reformed the planning system to enable local people more say in determining how their local areas are developed. This has enabled local groups to work with Town Councils to set out a vision for the places they live, study and work. This can include identifying where you think new homes, shops leisure facilities or employment opportunities are to be built and what these buildings should look like within the local area. A Neighbourhood Plan will give local people an increased ability to influence planning decisions in the local area, and as such will need to be representative of the people that work and live in the towns. The Government through the Localism Act in 2011 introduced Neighbourhood Planning to England as a way of allowing Towns, Parishes and Cities to have more say and control over where and how Communities lived. National Planning Policies contained in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) have to be followed and Local District Plans ie, in our case Lewes District , Core Document. Additionally because we are fortunate to have the South Downs National Park to the north of the plan area the plans and policies of the SDNP Authority are also a consideration. Working within these parameters communities can set their own policies, identify paths, greenspaces and generally set out how we want our area to function. This is done by a series of Public Consultations, overseen by a Steering Group which works with the Councillors and Officers at the Town Council. The process and time scales for the Neighbourhood Plan are laid down by Government and can be found here.
A REFERENDUM WILL TAKE PLACE ON 7th MAY 2026
TIMELINE:-
February 2026 – the plan has been agreed by Lewes District Council and the Decision Statement for Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood development Plan for referendum has now been published on Lewes District Council’s website.
Update January 2026 – the updated plan has been submitted to Lewes District Council and their advices are awaited
Update December 2025 – the examiner’s report has been received and minor amendments made to the plan in accordance with their recommendations – see link to LewesDC’s webiste:- https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/media/5274/Peacehaven-and-Telscombe-Neighbourhood-Plan-Examiner-s-Report/pdf/Peacehaven_and_Telscombe_Neighbourhood_Plan_Examiners_Report.pdf?m=1768491491187
Update October 2025 – the examiner’s report is awaited.
Update May 2025 – additional information has been provided by the examiner and we are awaiting further contact from them.
Update July 2024 – The draft Plan is currently being examined by the Government Inspector.
Update October 2023 – A revised version of the Neighbourhood Development Plan was put out for Regulation 16 Consultation. The Regulation 16 consultation closed on 24th November 2023 and Lewes District Council (LDC) have since chosen a Government Inspector to examine the Neighbourhood Plan and supporting documents, to ensure that it fits with National Policy.
Peacehaven & Telscombe Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Update June 2023:- The draft Neighbourhood Development Plan has been developed by a steering group of local residents and Councillors and written for the Councils by a planning consultant. Consultation took place with the public during February and March 2022 of a pre-submission draft plan. An updated version was then submitted to Lewes District Council under Regulation 15 and they put it out for consultation for 6 weeks under Regulation 16. Following the consultation amendments are required and a revised version will be submitted to Lewes District Council shortly.
Supporting document :- https://www.peacehaven-and-telscombe-neighbourhood-plan-steering-group.co.uk/_files/ugd/6d59de_5262744373e4492d9a8984758efff1c3.pdf
Find out further information re sites by clicking here:- Statement to accompany Aecom Report and here:- Aecom Site Assessment Nov 2019
New Streets and Squares for centre of Peacehaven supported in survey
Responses to a survey on ideas for the centre of Peacehaven have shown that residents in Peacehaven and Telscombe (including East Saltdean) rank a new supermarket, shops and cafes of highest importance with 60% supporting new pedestrian streets and squares for the new centre.
The 844 responses generated 2327 separate pieces of data to be analysed, so give a real insight into residents’ views. Other highlights from the survey include:
– Asked about what type of affordable housing should be made available people ranked shared ownership (1st) followed by discounted market homes (2nd), social rent (3rd) and sheltered housing (4th).
– People generally supported more activities and facilities for young people.
– There was also strong support of a new business or enterprise hub on the Hoyle Road industrial estate.
– However, a majority didn’t support the Masterplan overall.
Further analysis suggests that this was because of opposition to new housing without improvements to roads, particularly the A259, and social infrastructure such as more GPs and Dentists. People were also concerned about losing a big supermarket and having to travel to Brighton or Newhaven for their weekly shop. They wanted more competition for the Co-op and also wanted more independent shops, cafes and restaurants. They also wanted an improved community centre and library facilities. There was also support for retaining trees and improving green spaces and the appearance of the centre in general.
Cllr Cathy Gallagher who chairs the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group said: “While we note that a slight majority were opposed to the Masterplan overall, we were pleased that they liked the vision of new pedestrian streets and squares. We understand that people are worried about more homes being built without the infrastructure in place to support new and existing residents but have to be realistic – without new homes, none of the proposed improvements can happen. We will continue to listen to residents’ views as we develop the policies and projects and feed these into the draft Neighbourhood Plan which we hope to publish later in the summer.”
PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP UPDATE FEBRUARY 2021:-
A covered shopping area and small town houses were selected as preferences in response to the Peacehaven town centre Masterplan survey. Other preferences included agreement with the proposed new pedestrian streets and squares and backing for a business or enterprise centre.
Least favourite options selected included sheltered housing and pubs and bars. 844 responses were received in total which will be used to develop policies and as supporting evidence for the emerging Neighbourhood Plan.
Cathy Gallagher chair of the Peacehaven and Telscombe Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) Steering Group said, “Although a slightly higher percentage disagreed with the Masterplan overall this gives us a fantastic idea of what people do want for their new town centre. We will now be busy feeding back these results to residents and other interested parties, drafting the Neighbourhood Plan and consulting on design codes for new developments.”
PEACEHAVEN & TELSCOMBE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN STEERING GROUP UPDATE JANUARY 2021:-
Thank you to all those who responded to the survey on the masterplan for the centre of Peacehaven. The Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) Steering Group has had a fantastic response and will be collating everyone’s views after the closing date for comments which was on Sunday 31st January 2021.
There have already been many comments on Facebook and other platforms and an updated frequently asked questions document has been created which you can view here to respond to questions as they arise: https://www.peacehaven-and-telscombe-neighbourhood-plan-steering-group.co.uk/post/masterplan-frequently-asked-questions
All the responses will be used to create a paper which will be used as an evidence document.
A pamphlet was delivered to every home in the plan area i.e. East Saltdean, Telscombe including Telscombe village and Peacehaven. Social media and websites were also used to promote the online survey. The pamphlet set out the background on the NDP and the concept possibility for land use on the Meridian Site.
We had planned a number of public events in 2020 to consult and make the community aware of the vision and aims of the NDP but of course these were overshadowed by COVID-19 regulations. However, on 11th February at 7pm we will be holding a public Zoom meeting, to enable any questions or comments to be addressed. Please contact Peacehaven Town Council if you wish to attend.
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/tpnarea Twitter – https://twitter.com/TelscombePlan
PROPOSED TIMETABLE:-
