Reminder to respond to the SDNP Local Plan

The deadline for responding to the South Downs National Park Local Plan is Monday 17 March. Local development expert Andrew Simpson provides a reminder on how to respond effectively to the plan, which will determine how and where future development take places in Lewes town and the rest of the National Park.

The deadline for responding to the Regulation 18 Consultation on the National Park’s Local Plan is 17 March, so not long to have your say.

If you are concerned about the lack of affordable housing in our town, about nature recovery, about traffic congestion and lack of public transport facilities (such as the planned demolition of our bus station), about the sites that are being proposed in Lewes for development, or any other social and environmental concerns that you may have about Lewes for the future, now is your chance to influence this very important consultation.

How to respond

It’s best to give yourself a bit of time to familiarise yourself with the consultation material first, and make sure that your response refers to specific policies as set out in the Consultation Document (referenced by a set of letters and numbers, eg SD57).

You can read the whole draft Local Plan here.

There are then three ways to respond.

  1. Comment online

You can respond online at https://sdnpalocalplanreview.commonplace.is/. Choose the policy that you wish to respond to using the format on this very accessible website and filling in the survey boxes.

  1. Complete the response form

Alternatively, you can download a Response Form here, which provides the whole survey in one document for you to read and decide what to respond to. You can then email the document to

  1. Write your own written representation

Finally, you can either email or post a written representation to the National Park.  Again, the email is  and the address is Planning Policy Team, South Downs Centre, North Street, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29.  

In making a representation do remember to refer to the policy number you are commenting on, as this means that your comments are more likely to be taken into consideration.

Finally, don’t forget that you can respond as an individual or as a local group or organisation. The more responses that are sent by Lewes residents, the greater the hope of having a Local Plan that meets the town’s development needs in the future.

See Andrew’s February article on making sense of Local Plans here.