Writing in this week's edition of the Mid Sussex Times, Sir Nicholas Soames, the Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate for Mid Sussex discusses the local approach taken on planning. In the article, he said:
"When the Coalition Government came to power in 2010 we set about reforming planning so we could deliver the homes that people need by working with local communities.
Neighbourhood planning gives real power to local people allowing them to play a much greater role in shaping their areas and as it goes forward it is proving popular.
Because we live in such a beautiful and very desirable place a lot of other people would like to come and live here too – it is therefore very difficult to strike a balance between creating sustainable well thought out communities and preserving the very special nature of Mid Sussex.
Mid Sussex District Council is making good progress in developing its District Plan. The Council recently agreed the Plan and will be consulting with Mid Sussex residents. The Plan will then be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for examination in the Autumn.
The thrust of Mid Sussex’s Plan is ‘bottom up’ with our Parish and Town Councils playing an important role in supporting the Plan through their Neighbourhood Plans. MSDC are anticipating 20 Neighbourhood Plans and to date three have been made in Cuckfield, Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common and Ardingly. The West Hoathly, Crawley Down, Burgess Hill, Lindfield and Lindfield Rural Neighbourhood Plans are all at advanced stages.
Meanwhile, I have been strongly supporting local residents in their fight against opportunistic planning applications by developers all over Mid Sussex and together we have had some successes, but we have also, on some occasions, failed to stop them. Local people rightly feel very passionately about these issues and it will be a tremendous relief when the Local Plan is agreed and the Council will be able to defend a solid position against all comers.
At the same time we have had to fight the awful Mayfield Market Town proposal and the potential consequences of serious over-development as a result of a possible second runway at Gatwick.
But whilst there are certainly problems which must be addressed, they should not detract from the overall success of neighbourhood plans.
It is localism in action and at the end of the day the Plan will make a huge difference to our local communities by putting them firmly in charge."