This is the fourth in our series of webinars about the consultation: Towards a Lewes Local Plan: Spatial Strategy and Policy Directions
For other webinars and to respond to the consultation, please visit https://planningpolicyconsult.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/LDC_PO_2023/consultationHome
Yes thank you again and um welcome to everybody uh thanks to everyone that’s been to the previous sessions they’ve been really well attended uh and we’ve been you really grateful to you for giving up the time to attend these as well um in a moment I’m going to pass
Over to my planning policy colleague Nadim who’s going to give some uh give some context and background and then uh Nadim will be passing over to my colleague Anna um for for one of the main sections of today um n I’m going to ask you to unmute and and as well over to
You thank you br for that introduction and welcome everybody to uh today’s webinar on the local plan um today’s focus is on the theme of natural environment and specific spefically biodiversity uh the green and blue infrastructure which we we’ll look to cover in that okay so the purpose uh is to to
Give you a brief background to the local plan progress and where we are on that um and as I said the theme for today’s session is the natural environment chapter in the document um so starting with the policy con context as you’ll all be aware and U from previous
Webinars as well the planning process in England is is planning is plan L and what that means in practice is that at the very top of the hierarchy is the government’s policy and planning which it has set out through the national planning policy framework in amongst everything
Else and what this does it sets out what the Govern government expects local plans to include uh and what areas that um and policies that we should be developing in our local plan now specifically to today’s webinar paragraphs 174 onwards set out what the local plan should seek to do in um
Through its plan when it’s seeking to contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment and just one of the bullet points in in that guidance for us is that the local plant should and the policies within it should seek to protect and enhance the valued Landscapes sites of biodiversity or
Geological value and soiled um in a way that that are set out in in that framework and paragraphs 179 through to 182 deals specifically with habitats and bio diversity and there is an expectation um that the local plan policies will seek to protect and enhance biodiversity and
Geodiversity um I thought it might be helpful just to sort of take a step back into the local plan making process and spell out where we are in our polic in in our progress um so as you can see from the slide on the screen uh we are at the
Stage where um we are looking to develop a draft local plan in the spring of next year and at the moment the consultation is on the preferred options and policy directions and um we will then move on from from there as the diagram on the slide shows moving
Towards the right to adopting a local plan once it’s been through examination so we are at the start of the Journey of preparing our new new local plan and so a lot of the the policies are not set out in in much detail that will be done through further iterations of the
Plan so having set the policy context for both the plan making and today’s theme I’m going to hand over to Anna will take you through the policies that are the policy directions that are being set out through the consultation document and those that we envisage we will take forward through
The local plan um draft version next year okay Anna you you go to the next slide thanks um so the district’s natural environment is one of its greatest assets and it supports a range of habitats species other features that contribute to biodiversity or its geodiversity value
Uh vital parts of the ecosystem are the soils the rivers The Wider water environment and in addition to protecting and restoring nature for nature uh the natural environment also contributes to enhancing the quality of life for residents uh for workers and visitors and helps to promote a healthy living environment and social
Inclusion and as well as our natural Capital assets that have a key role in tackling the two huge environmental crisis that we face that’s climate change and the devastating of biodiversity so through the local plan we want to put the environment at the heart of all development to ensure and
Deliver to enhance and deliver biodiversity net gains rather than detrimentally impacting on our environmental assets including our designated national sites landscape character in The District uh biodiversity and water quality next slide please so it’s worth just mentioning and briefly setting out the environment Act which received Ro in 2021 makes
Provision for targets plans and policies for improving the natural environment in four Pol priority areas being um air quality biodiversity water and resource efficiency and waste reduction so there’s two measures from this act which are just key to the local plan which I’ll touch on today and that’s the
Requirements for biodiversity net gain and local nature recovery strategies so the ACT makes a measurable biodiversity net gain on development sites mandatory and this will ensure habitats for wildlife are enhanced with a minimum of 10% increase in habitat value for wildlife compared with the pre development based line and we’ll discuss
This a bit further in the context of the local panon and under policy ne2 just shortly and another key area for the local plan is the int introduction of local nature recovery strategies these will be prepared at County scale and they provide a spatial blueprint for where and how nature recovery networks
Can be created um through improve moving expanding and better connecting areas for wildlife on the ground so East susex County Council will be leading on the East susex and Brighton and ho nature recovery strategy and this will be prepared through a process that brings local people communities and organizations together to identify the
Priorities and the opportunities for Nature’s recovery locally so this will include agreeing the best places to help nature recover such as plant trees create Woodlands restore our grasslands escap FL R create green spaces for local people to enjoy and once prepared that local nature recovery strategy will be used to
Help guide efforts and resources locally to improve expand and better connect our habitats next slide please so the local plan policies proposed to support the district’s overall AIMS in relation to the natural environment are any1 which is a policy on green and blue infrastructure ne2 on biodiversity ne3 around
Protection of landscape qualities and ne4 which is around creating a clean and healthy environment so the policies that propos we’re proposing have been informed by a number of evidence documents which have been completed to date including those listed on the slide landscape character assessment landscape sensitivity study biodiversity study GE
University study and an open space assessment and um I’ll talk briefly about those in the moment is also the study green and blue infrastructure study which is still ongoing due to be completed next year to next slide please so the biodiversity study that carries out a high level biodiversity assessments including details of
Potential constraints and opportunities on some potential strategic allocations and land surrounding settlements within the plan area and they use use these assessments to consider the suitability in terms of biodiversity impacts of sites and settlements for future development and the biodiversity study also looks at the requirements for biodiversity n net gain on development
Sites and whether there may be a need for off-site delivery of biodiversity net gain in the district um in order to facilitate that delivery of development on sites that cannot deliver their own net gain so to do this the study sets out seven typologies which have then been developed to Broly represent
Development types which may be expected in The District in the plan period so these are small medium large Greenfield residential sites large or small Brownfield residential um offices and large housing or mixed use sites and solar sites and the assessment of the typologies estimates the b& um biodiversity net gain credits required
To ensure at least a 10% net gain in biodiversity and the outcomes of this part of the study can then be used to estimate the total number of off site biodiversity net gain credits to plan for when considering um site allocations in the new local plan so another aspect of the study is
The justification for Lewis to consider a greater degree of net gain above that mandatory 10% the study does set out there is some there is justification for Lewis to seek a minimum a minimum of 20% biodiversity in that game where that is feasible and it should be um achievable
The final part of the study looks at areas where habitats and key Wildlife quars could be enhanced by identifying areas of potential biodiversity n game provision so next slide please so the landscape studies we’ve got the landscape character assessment that sets out seven distinct landscape character areas um in the plan area um
That plan area it’s the plan area so the district outside of the South Dallas National Park the landscape character assessment describes those the key characteristic key characteristics of the landscape character areas and then sets out guidelines for management and for development in those areas so although the South National Park is outside the
Local plan area the national park landscape is of great importance we are required to have regard to the purposes of the national park including to conserve and enhance natural beauty the wildlife and cultural heritage of the area and the Landscapes described in the South Down’s own landscape character assessment are strongly interrelated to
Those in the leis plan area um a particular particular importance is the South Dan’s National Park viewsheds and the South Dan’s International dark sky Reserve designated in 2016 the Lewis landscape sensitivity study then looks at landscape and visual sensitivity of divine sites and Parcels of land surrounding settlements to
Different types of development the development typologies are considered they compris of small medium large scale residential small and large scale employment sites um strategic mixed du sites and Solar Development and the sensitivity assessment is based upon identifying the landscape and the visual attributes of the sites and settlement
Areas which are then most likely to be impacted by the development types the study provides landscape sensitivity ratings based on the sensitivity for the different development types and guidance for mitigation for each area assessed next slide please so the geodiversity this is a range of rocks fossils minerals soils land forms
Natural processes that go up to that make up the Earth’s landscape and its structure the de geodiversity underpins biodiversity often where biodiversity areas are located they’re linked with particular geological form formations so in the geodiversity study local sites of geological interest are identified and they’re assessed according to Natural
National guidance and uh in the plan area there are two geological special sites of scientific interest and three other geological conservation review sites the study provides a review of the level of protection of the sites assessed and some possible enhancements we’ve also um these policies also influenced by the Open
Space strategy um open space assessment which presents an assessment of types of open space such as green spaces Parks Gardens Lots outdoor sports facilities um in terms of current provision and future requirements and a quality and value assessment was carried out to recommend which Open Spaces could benefit from
Improvements um finally we have the green and blue infrastructure study that’s currently being undertaken by Consultants and the study looks at green and blue infrastructure in the district describes the existing summarizes the opportunities and challenges for protection for the creation and maintenance and enhancement of the green
And blue infrastructure in the plan area that study um stud is currently ongoing it’s du to be completed next year next slide please so the uh consultation sets out preferred policy direction for for green and blue infrastructure in policy ne1 um just to start with what is green and blue infrastructure that’s it’s
Basically a network of multifunctional green space and water environments that sustain our ecosystems these can be Urban or read Rural and are capable of delivering a wide range of environmental economic health and well-being benefits for nature and the climate the DBI Network can include Street trees uh
Green roofs or walls uh Parks private Gardens allotments um sustainable Drainage Systems uh through to Wildlife areas Woodlands Wetlands um natural flood management functioning at the local landscape scale and then there’s linear um gbi which can include roadside verges green Bridges field margins um green infrastructure improvements can be delivered as part of
New development bi planning system um upgrading of existing green and blue infrastructure and retrofitting of new um infrastructure in areas where the provision is identified as being poor so um with the gbr network the aim is to develop multifunctionality Link in the builtup area with the natural environment delivering benefits for nature the
Environment climate health and well-being and even economic Prosperity so the preferred local plan policy will identify and protect the existing gbi Network linking with the nature y network discussed earlier um we’ll identify areas where there is potential for the enhancement or restoration of existing uh green and blue
Infrastructure or the provision of new green blue infrastructure um the policy would not support development that would undermine the functional Integrity of that gbi Network and the policy would also require all development proposals to include um appropriate green and blue infrastructure to the the type and the scal and the location
Of the development the development site um and finally to support the migration of species between habitats the preferred local plan promotes the reconnection of habitats across the plan area through compulsory habitat connection connectivity and new developments so for example if a site overlaps two identified habitats or the
Same habitats that are fragmented local plan policy could set out mandatory requirements for the design of the site to specifically include green or blue corridors to connect those those habitats next slide please um just before we talk about the thir policy any to about biodiversity it’s probably helpful to just set out um
Bit about b& um and the understanding of it it’s an approach that aims to leave biodiversity in a measurably better place than before the development took place so the old system talked um more about no net loss of biodiversity um that is when you undertake a development
And there is no net loss in in the biodiversity that was there before um but the new mechanism as discussed in the environment act for in biodiversity net gain is um that’s the approach now and that we look at to ensure that habitats are enhanced with a
Minimum of 10% net gain in value measured in standard standardized biodiversity units and using a national metric uh next slide please so I mean why do we need b& um historically biodiversity loss has been a of an afterthought we’re now seeking to reverse this loss um not just locally
But nationally there’s also a shift in the public sentiment there’s more awareness of the issues around biodiversity and people are valuing their local parks nature spaces more and this links with health and well-being um priorities and providing healthy places that people want to live in next slide please so in practice um
Biodiversity net gain it doesn’t change the legal protections there stay the same and before development commences on the site we need to know and we need to capture what the base conditions are on the ground for biodiversity the developer would undertake assessments to measure the habitats and provide a
Forward plan for the biodiversity Net game um and biodiversity that gain is not going to be delivered by the council it has to be a partnership approach with everyone one from the environment agency or um other strategic Partners playing their part next slide please so preferred policy two sets out
The local PR response to biodiversity Net game so all development should ensure the protection conservation and enhancement of biodiversity if harm cannot be avoided then such harm should be adequately mitigated and where it cannot be adequately mitigated then as a last result harm must be compensated for
And where it cannot be compensated for them planning permission should be refused so even though requirement for 10% biodiversity that gain is mandatory in National policy as we’ve discuss a locally specific policy will be able to set out local priorities and strategies to ensure the b& that biodivers net gain
Contributes to wider nature recovery plans and our local objectives it will help to ensure that the right habitats are provided in the right places including locally specific biodiversity net gain policy in the local plan this link that local plan with other strategic objectives and improve the overall placemaking for the district so
The preferred local plan policy is proposing to require development to achieve a minimum of 10% net gain and up to 20% by net gain um whilst the biodiversity study sets out some justification for the requirement for a higher level of biodiversity net gain there is further evidence and work
Required to evidence up to 20% uh by faity net gain requirement and a local plan policy and this incl includes showing that that requirement is achievable and viable um and still allowing development to come forward next slide please so District contains some high quality and diverse Landscapes including
Heath river valleys flood Plains rolling downland short clifts shingle beaches or rural fields and and ancient woodens the district’s valued landscape has been has been recognized through the designation of the South D National Park and while whilst the South DS National Park Authority have planning responsibility for the Park area Lewis District must
Ensure that development within the Lewis local plan area does not adversely affect the setting of the park incl including key views um and Landscape is not static it changed over time the geological and natural environment has been changed by human activity and human activity is also influenced by the environment the landscape character
Tells the story of those in influenc in relationships and protection of the landscape does not mean that development cannot take place but protection signifies that changes must be managed in such a way that potential adverse impacts are kept to a minimum and that the unique character of the landscape can even be
Strengthened so new development will have an impact on the landscape the new loc plan um a to steer development where harm can be minimized and the spatial strategy seeks to manage growth in the most sustainable locations to ensure that the most valued and sensitive land is protected the landscape design policy
Will require development to reflect local character and distinctiveness and integrate development into its surroundings um the policy will also set out requirements in relation to tree parum which links with requirements for climate adaptation carbon capture and cooling um next slide please so uh policy any4 this addresses
Pollution such as air soil noise and light and should propose specific requirements where appropriate for each were relevant so the preferred policy will set out how development should contribute positiv positively to the quality of the environment and how development should minimize polluting impacts on existing and future residents
To create a clean and healthy environment for all the preferred policy will require all development proposals to avoid significant adverse impacts on health and the quality of life for residents and quality of the environment from pollutants such as air soil noise and light or other pollutants now or in
Future and mitigate any adverse impact on the health and quality of life for residents and quality of the environment from pollutants and where possible contribute to the Improvement of mentioned quality aspects to help improve health quality of life and environment development which is both residential and commercial that may potentially contribute or adversely
Affect soil quality air quality or contribute to noise or light pollution will only be permitted where it can be demonstrated that development will not have an adverse impact on the use of other land uh the health and quality of life of residents or the environment um next slide
Please so um this preferred policy is setting out specifically in relation to noise um that development would that would expose noise sensitive uses to unacceptable noise levels would not be permitted and um further set out that noise sensitive development would only be permitted where it can be demonstrated that users would not be
Exposed to unacceptable noise disturbance from existing or future uses um in turn noise generation development will only be permitted where it can be demonstrated that nearby noise sensitive uses including existing or planned uses will not be exposed to noise impacts that would verely affect the imunity of existing or future users or
Occupiers and specifically in relation to light is recognized that artificial light has valuable benefits in terms of feelings of safety and allowing longer hours of recreation and sport in some instances however artificial light can be a source of annoyance for people it can have negative impacts on Wild Life
And the enjoyment of the countryside the preferred policy will restrict artificial light sources in the plan area to those required for working or safety purposes and glare and spillage should be minimized policy will set out also that outdoor lighting should be powered by onsite renewable sources where possible and in addition
Developments within the setting of the South D National Park will be required to minimize adverse impacts on the the South Downs um International dark sky Reserve uh next slide please and uh the policy specifically in relation to soils um we set out how development should deal with contaminated soils
We’ll have specific requirements to avoid contamination of any water PSE or aquer a development proposals on a site that is known or suspected to be affected by contamination will only be permitted where the council is certified that all works including investigation of the nature of the contamination can be undertaken without disap of
Contaminants that would cause unacceptable risk to health or the environment and lastly the uh preferred policy specifically in relation to air pollution um generally the local plan will set out requirements for sustainable travel uh developments that support or encourage travel by walking cycling or public transport reducing
That need to travel by private car will be supported through the sustainable travel policies this preferred environment policy proposes specific requirements for development that could impact current or potential um air quality Management areas and seeks to address reduction of pollutants in the construction phase so development proposals which could impacts on the
Current or potential Air Quality Management areas must have regard to any um air quality action plans and seek improvements in air quality through the imple implementation of measures um provide mitigation where the development or Associated traffic would adversely affect any declared area of um air quality man management and in
Addition all applications for development will be required to secure best practice methods to reduce levels of dust and other pollutants arising from the construction and or from the use of completed developments and this uh policy will set out requirements for applications in terms of the submission of construction details um to inv Future
Conditions um so this concludes the uh just setting out the preferred uh policies for the natural environment theme so so I will hand you back to nine right thanks Anna um so hopefully you’ve heard something about what the local plan is is seeking to achieve in terms of the natural environment
Um how can you get involved um so as you’ll be aware we’re doing these webinars as part of the public consultation on this stage of a local plan and um everything that you’ve heard today from us is available on the consultation platform which is where we’d also like you to provide your
Comments um and you can put comments against um every policy Direction that’s in the consultation document what I would like to ask though is that if you can use that consultation portal as the way to provide us your comment and the reason for that is is if we are
Receiving emails and and um comments through the post then that requires us to or what we will need to do is then upload those onto the consultation platform and uh we will also have to come back to you and ask you a load of questions around uh
Gdpr so if you are able to um and you have the capacity then then I would encourage you to um use that medium for responding back to the consultation um it ALS o means that um if your your responses will be structured so we know exactly against which question uh you
You are commenting on um and if you’re unable to comment online then please do contact us and we’ll see if there’s an alternative way that we can get you to get your comments onto that portal the consultation itself is open until the 8th of February and it
Is really important that you do provide us with your comments um you know the the end product will be a combination of technical studies and we’ve been uh using to support the policy Direction but also the the views um that we hear from our consules uh and later on um in in the
Consultation in early January we will be looking to host a number of in-person events in various locations in the plan area um so do please come back to and visit the website for details of where those events will take place and our final uh webinar in this series is uh
This Wednesday uh at the same time at 12 o’cl and using the same medium uh on and you can use the same link to to access that um so that brings me to the end of the presentation um the QR code on the screen that you’re seeing you should be
Able to scan and that takes you straight to the portal or if you want to pick it up by the link um then that’s also an option so I’ll hand back to Brinn I think Brinn this is probably one of the first webinars where we’ve finished with plenty of time for
Questions thank you very much n and thank you Anna as well um we’ve just had a question from John do you expect the new planning um sorry the new National planning policies to impact on the need for local policies uh in new local plans and uh are you confident that the
Examining insector will see a need for additional local policies in this area um the I mean we’re we’re still in that period where the new National framework hasn’t really been bedded down um where so in terms of that that do we see the plan the legal plan
And the policies within it being I mean one thing then you know nothing’s been ruled out from The New National plan framework is the need for local plan so if there is a local justification for those we will continue to try and push those forward and really justify and
Argue for those through the examination process thank you n um the next question is from uh councilor Emily O’Brien hi Emily um the council passed a motion asking the planning department to be proactive about asking developers um at the earliest stages of our hgv routing in order to minimize the impact
Of hgv traffic and pollution as a result of development will this practice continue and or uh is there any possibility that planning policy which will of of planning policy which will support this approach if I’ve understood the question correctly there I think what Emily is asking is can we through the local plan
Get um into discussions with potential sites that are being developed um so that the before the development commences we have a plan in place for where hgvs will access those sites um I think that is something that we will need to look into as part of the the negotiations and the
Development of the plan so that by the time we get into a plan which is being adopted with sites uh allocated that we we have those plans Pro in in place and a process in place for managing movement from from those sites so it’s something that we will uh
Certainly take on board and take forward okay thank you thank you n um so next question from John um and and apologies if I don’t express this in quite the right right way um interesting hopefully the provision of onsite biodiversity net gain will be prioritized um I think that’s the heart
Of the question uh and and uh John is asking if he’s right to be suspicious when he hears about um offsite B biodiversity net gain improvements being provided through um b& credits provided by B&G credit Brokers um is that something you can come back on
Nine um I’m gonna let Anna take this one I think you might be in a better place than me to answer Anna yeah I mean I think as essentially the the Baseline is that that b& would be prioritized on site and and only where it cannot be delivered on site would we consider
Offsite um BNG um and that would have to be on a sort of site by sight basis it’s hard to say um more than that really at this stage you Anna thanks very much and a followup from John is um how will the delivery of ons sites by
University get to be monitored uh in the medium term and does our planning team already have the necess necessary capacity um and if not how will that be provided good question um I think well um what we can say at the moment is is that that’s
Still coming in and um and what we need to Monitor and how we monitor that you know we have to take on board as as the um as it sort of progresses and um we uh the planning team monitor quite a lot of aspects of development and uh this will be another
Another aspect that we do um take take on board the monitoring of along with um we do have inhouse uh ecologists who would specialize in um in the monitoring of biodiversity Net game so it will be some some collaboration between planning and our colist in all green consultancy
I mean important to say as I think we said one of the slides delivering BNG isn’t going to be just the council something that the council can do on its own it is truly going to have to be one of those partnership working um pieces of work so that that will
Involve not only other colleagues from within the organization but um you know working across the county um with colleagues from East Sussex as well and so there’ll be a lot of of sort of conversations going on um between now and and the adoption of the local plan
For how we take this this work stream forward okay thank you yes thank you both um and another question from Council Brian how does the green and blue infrastructure strategy being developed for the plan relate to the new nature recovery strategy and does one have priority over the other um when developments are
Assessed so at the moment we’re undertaking the green and blue infrastructure study which will look at green and blue infrastructure in the districts um and look at uh nature um could provide some some some background or some um something to influence that nature recovery strategy the County Council
Will be working on the nature recovery strategy but really that’s in Partnership and with other organizations as well so our green and blue infrastructure study will input into to the nature recovery strategy and the local plan will support that strategy um so it’s it’s the interrelation between
All those um that’s the study and the strategies going forward okay thank you Anna I’m just going to leave it another minute um to see if there are any further questions that appear in our chat and thank you oh here we go um how much evaluation of habitat problems and um
Specific air soil noise and light problems uh to be pinpointed all right BR can you just repeat the question again we call um so so um so if I’m understand this correctly it’s a question from Vincent um how much evaluation of habitat problems and specific air soil
Noise and light problems uh are there to be pinpointed um there’s there’s quite a lot of overlap with other um other sort of council or wider um wider bodies we the the green and blue infrastructure study will look at green and blue infrastructure identify where
There may be um deficits in that or or improvements that coming made the biodiversity study looks at um existing habitats and and what Improvement could be made um so there is evaluation of of some of these things mentioned um going on and there is also um in relation to
Air quality we do have um air quality Specialists who look at those Air Quality Management areas um and that management plans um and that all feeds into the local plan um so there’s lots of different studies that are going on in lots of different areas that all feed
Um feedback into the local plan which hopefully sort of answers parts of that question thank you very much indeed Anna and um and and with that I think we’ll we’ll draw it to a close uh thank you very much indeed everybody for attending today thank you to planning policy
Colleagues uh who have been presenting um a reminded that our final webinar in this series will be on uh this coming Wednesday midday Anders Nim mentioned it’ll be on infrastructure Community facilities design and the built environments um the recording of this session will be on the website later on
Today if you want to watch any ofbody back or if you have any colleagues or friends or family with whom you wish to uh share the recording uh and Wednesday’s um session will be the same that and that will be the final recording that is added to to the
Website um so I wish you all a very good day and uh thank you again for attending