Rother District Council’s draft Local Plan

Rother District Council is currently consulting on a new local plan, the Rother Local Plan 2020-2040 Draft (Regulation 18) version.

While the proposed draft strategic policies relating to the distribution and delivery of housing, employment floorspace and other non-residential development across the district largely remains the same as that under the old plan, the draft detailed policies on the environmental, energy and sustainability requirements for new development are more onerous and will likely lead to more information being required to support planning applications for new development and more post planning conditions to ensure these standards are met.

Examples include a new requirement under the draft local plan for ecology surveys and reports to be submitted for qualifying new development to demonstrate that it will achieve 20% biodiversity net gain and that it has had regard to the objectives of the East Sussex Local Nature Recovery Strategy. This is more onerous than the nationally prescribed 10% biodiversity net gain requirement that currently needs to be demonstrated by qualifying developments.

Energy statements will be required under the new local plan to be submitted in support of new development to demonstrate how they will achieve net zero building standards and major developments will be required to demonstrate that whole life carbon analysis has been applied in designing the scheme. To ensure that the sustainability of development is considered at every phase, draft new local plan policies require for the consideration of embodied and operational carbon and waste from design through to demolition of development.

If adopted, it is likely the new standards will require for additional planning conditions to be placed on planning permissions to ensure compliance and in some instances, post construction assessments will be secured by condition to determine compliance.

The consultation will close on Tuesday 23^rd July 2024 at 5pm. Please contact us at The Rural Planning Practice on 01580 201888 or office@therpp.co.uk if you would like us to make representations on your behalf.