Local Development Framework (LDF) 2010

Introduction

A public consultation on the Local Development Framework: Core Spatial Development Strategy (LDF) began in the autumn of 2009. 

The Report sought to include options 2 & 3 combined in the completed LDF Core Strategy that will undergo public consultation in early 2011. Option 2 provides for the possibility of at least 150 additional homes in Sovereign Harbour.

Paras 4.24-4.26 of the Report include the argument: "Discounting the responses received at the ‘Neighbourhood 14 – Sovereign’ consultation event significantly reduces the level of opposition to Option 2, making it the most supported and least opposed option by the rest of the Borough".

This is grossly unfair, in our view. Option 2 is the only option that directly impacts Sovereign Harbour, yet the views of Harbour residents opposing this option are to be "discounted"!

SHRA's Response to LDF Report

At the time SHRA was determined to resist any further residential development within the Harbour area. We wanted to ensure that all the remaining development land was used to provide the necessary social infrastructure and the business and tourist facilities that will make Sovereign Harbour a sustainable community for the future.

We considered that the way the LDF consultation was carried out, and the way that conclusions were drawn from it, were wrong. As a result, and on behalf of our members, in early June 2010 SHRA wrote to Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State (SoS) for Communities, asking that his Department investigate:

i. The manner in which EBC conducted the LDF public consultation.
ii. The report that was produced as a result.
iii. The validity of the conclusions that were reached.

Read SHRA's letter to SoS...  Read SHRA's covering letter to CE of EBC...

In early July 2010, EBC CE Robert Cottrill responded to our letters. Our concerns over the manner of the LDF consultation were dismissed. He acknowledged that Sovereign Harbour lacked a number of important community facilities, but insisted that the only way they could be provided was from profit made by further residential development. He also intimated that the land owners were in the process of drawing up a draft master plan for consultation in the Autumn. Read the Chief Executive's letter to SHRA... 

Eastbourne Plan Published

The Eastbourne Plan - Proposed Core Strategy 2006-2027 was published as part of Eastbourne's Local Development Framework (LDF) in December 2010.

For the Sovereign Harbour area the Plan proposes the following.

"Sovereign will increase its levels of sustainability through the delivery of community infrastructure and employment development, ensuring that a holistic view is taken of development across the remaining sites.

This will be achieved by:

Developing community facilities in order to meet the needs of local residents;

• Providing extensive employment opportunities through the development of a Science Park;
• Increasing the amount of usable open space and the number of children’s play areas;
• Delivering a limited amount of residential development (150 units), including affordable housing, in order to provide community infrastructure;
• Increasing the importance of the Waterfront as a leisure and tourist centre;
• Encouraging opportunities to improve the provision of public transport through improvements to bus routes; and
• Enhancing the provision of cycle and walking routes to improve connections within the neighbourhood and to other parts of the town."

SHRA opposed the plan's proposal to build 150 more residential properties at Sovereign Harbour.

Eastbourne Core Strategy Local Plan 2013

The Council adopted the Eastbourne Core Strategy Local Plan 2013 in February 2013. It made specific reference to Sovereign Harbour with a vision of the area and a planning policy (C14). It noted that a Sovereign Harbour Supplementary Planning Document giving further details to support Policy C14 was being prepared. The Core Strategy is available on the EBC web page: https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/eastbourne-core-strategy

The Sovereign Harbour Supplementary Planning Document

It was proposed that the vision for Sovereign Harbour would be reinforced by producing a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), and a working group, chaired by Stephen Lloyd MP, should be formed to develop it. The group members were the leaders of both EBC political groups, the Sovereign Ward councillors, the EBC Chief Executive, Senior Planning Officers and SHRA committee members.

The first draft of the SPD was presented to residents at the Yacht Club in August 2011. It acknowledged that to finance the community facilities that residents had identified as being needed, it would be necessary to allow the building of up to 150 additional homes; this plan received overwhelming support.

The working group continued to develop and refine the SPD, and the final draft, presented to residents at the Yacht Club in June 2012, reinforced the limit of 150 additional homes, with options for their location. It also provided details of all the community facilities that would be secured in return, including:

• A community centre
• A “village square” at the Waterfront
• Parks and other public open spaces
• A playing field
• Children’s play areas
• Joining up the harbour promenade
• A home for the fishing fleet

Click here to view the Sovereign Harbour SPD... adopted by the Council in February 2013.  An important aspect of the Sovereign Harbour SPD was that, once approved by EBC and the Department for Communities, it would become an integral part of the Eastbourne Local Development Framework, the new Borough Plan to 2027.