Consultation Response to the Draft South East Plan

Dear Mr Bevan,

I am taking this opportunity to respond to the official consultation that SEERA is undertaking on the South East Plan.

You are already aware of my views from the meeting that you came to at the House of Commons when a large number of colleagues from the South East expressed their opinions in the most robust terms.

The situation has not changed.

I would be grateful in the first instance if you would note my support for the views expressed by the West Sussex County Council, by the Mid Sussex District Council and by many of my constituents who are extremely anxious about what is proposed.

My views are based on the fact that it is clear that West Sussex is not taking a NIMBY approach. We do need housing and we do need it the right place to meet economic need and for it to be sensibly planned within a coherent adequately funded structure.

Undoubtedly, the gravest concerns locally and certainly mine are based on the absolute lack of confidence that the Government will provide the major infrastructure improvements which will be vital if the developments proposed are to be sustainable even at the lowest levels.

You should know that I have raised my concerns on these matters with Keith Hill, the Housing Minister, on a number of occasions and I have received no satisfaction as to my enquiries. For example, I understand that the Government have no plans to fund the improvements to any of the roads around East Grinstead where it is proposed that there should be a development of 2,500 houses. Only some 10 miles away is to be another development in Horley of another 2,500 houses.

The pressure on the local infrastructure for electricity, water, schools, hospitals and all the other civilised facilities are already very stretched and there appears to be no commitment from the Government to finance the necessary infrastructure.

I enclose for you also a copy of a document produced by the MSDC on Funding the Future of Mid Sussex which sets out very clearly the extreme problems faced by my constituents in this regard.

From this paper you will see that my constituency alone would require £1bn in infrastructure investment. Incidentally back in 2000 the then Chief Executive to the Treasury, Andrew Smith, gave me an assurance that “there is no question of planning for new homes while excluding planning for the range of services required to build thriving communities.” I do not believe and cannot accept his assurance.

The infrastructure deficit extends for example even into the question of the railways where the Brighton Line is already running to maximum capacity and the current proposals put forward by SEERA would in fact be totally impossible to handle. It is also unclear as to whether the Plan’s aspirational target of 60% of new dwellings on brownfield sites up to 2026 is achievable in practice.

There is locally profound anxiety over the question of waste, energy, diversion from landfill on health and on education and the ability of the Government to keep pace with the demand for services in an area where the health service is already struggling.

Of particular concern locally is the question of water. In a letter to me from the Sussex Area Manager of the Environment Agency of the 20th September 2004 Mr Clubb warned “The South East faces some of the most serious environmental problems in the country. … Regional strategies like the South East Plan must give the environment a high priority or everyone’s quality of life will suffer in the future. We need more homes built to include high environmental standards to reduce their long term impact and we need clear statements on building in areas prone to flooding.”

As you may know the Sussex reservoirs are already this year under very grave pressure.

Finally may I urge you to study the conclusion of the All Party Environmental Audit Committee’s report on Housing: Building a Sustainable Future which was published on the 30th January 2005.

Click here to view.

This report gives some stark warnings which if ignored will undermine the objectives of the Plan. It demonstrates that there is a lack of joined up thinking in an area where joined up policy is crucial and inadequate infrastructure development would lead to poorly designed communities with inadequate transport and public services.

You should also study DEFRA’s paper; “Study into the Environmental Impacts of Increasing the Supply of Housing in the UK”.

There is profound concern locally about the whole question of transport and may I commend to you the work of the Mid Sussex Transport Group which is trying to link in with the Regional Transport Strategy.

These consultations are of the greatest importance to my constituency. I have the gravest concerns about what is proposed at the upper level of figures and I am particularly worried about the protection of the Countryside in Mid Sussex already under huge pressure.

There has to be a sustainable and realistic way of building more houses but it will most definitely have to be at the lower end of the figures involved.

Finally, may I say that I am disappointed by the way in which this consultation has been conducted and I need to make the point to you again that many of my constituents never received the documents. Even if this is a failing on behalf of the Royal Mail it is still extremely bad news.

I would be grateful if you could acknowledge receipt of my views for the consultation and also my view that the time set by the Government for preparing this draft Plan and the subsequent consultation has been totally unrealistic given the size and complexity of the region.

Yours sincerely,

Nicholas Soames

Paul Bevan Esq.,

Chief Executive,

South East England Regional Assembly,

Berkeley House, Cross Lanes,

Guildford,

GU1 1UN