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North Street mystery - 2008/02/19 14:08There's a bit of a mystery about something Mr Style of Angel Property is minuted as saying at the 31 January 2008 meeting on the North Street Technical Group (the minutes are on the Lewes Matters home page). Anyone who has read the materials on the Lewes Matters site about the Jam Factory saga (a project that Angel have constantly boasted about) will remember the uncertainties and confusion bedevilling that project. We wouldn't want to see the Phoenix site go the same way.
Mr Style is minuted as having said at the 31 January meeting that the North Street site is likely to be considered a “strategic site” by the Housing Corporation, which would mean that the Corporation would entertain a funding bid after the submission of a planning application and wish to be closely involved in, and have a clear programme for, delivery of affordable housing.
We thought this was something we'd check with the Housing Corporation. They said: ' The Housing Corporation does not have a definition of strategic sites. It is the regional assemblies and the Mayor of London who define these. I suggest you contact the relevant authority for further information.'
Perhaps Mr Style could respond and clarify matters. It would be useful if he could tell us when the Housing Corporation said that they would be likely to consider North Street a 'strategic site'. If they have not said that perhaps he would ensure the Technical Group meeting minutes are corrected.
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Harry
Re:North Street mystery - 2008/02/25 21:28I'm grateful to Mr Style for his reply to my question (see Lewes Matters homepage). As he appears to accept that what he was noted as saying at the 31 January 2008 North Street Technical Group meeting was potentially misleading, I trust he will ask for the minutes to be corrected at the next meeting. I have been in touch with Lindsay Frost, the LDC Director of Planning, to ensure he is aware of this.
Mr Style's response does raise further questions. He quotes the criteria for designation as a strategic housing site as:
1) The capacity to accommodate 500 homes or more. Will Mr Style clarify whether this means 500 homes in total or 500 affordable homes?
2) Be expected to start within the timescale of the funding recommendations. Will Mr Style guarantee to the people of Lewes that should Angel's eventual application be approved, he will not then sell on the land he owns on the Phoenix site to another developer?
3) Be within adopted or emerging statutory planning frameworks. Will Mr Style clarify whether and in which way he considers the proposed Phoenix development meets this criteria?
Finally, will Mr Style let us know what effect a failure to obtain strategic site status for his proposed development would have on his plans?
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jstockdale
Re:North Street mystery - 2008/02/26 09:50I've followed this exchange with interest too. The revised masterplan Angel have published is amazingly vague and lacks a comprehensive map of the whole area showing what goes where. According to Charles Style's presentation to the Town Council, the area of the masterplan includes the land owned by Lewes District Council which LDC have stated they won't sell. How many of the 600 homes Angel are proposing to build are on Council-owned land which Angel have been told they will never be able to develop? If the site drops below 500, does it lose the opportunity to become strategic? Is this all just a great red herring?
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