Lewes District Council Planning Department says...

"As from 1 April 2006, we will be providing formalised pre-application advice on major development proposals involving 10 or more dwellings, or more than 1000 square metres of commercial floorspace.  Provision of pre-application advice on such large proposals consumes significant amounts of planning officer time and, in order to provide a consistent and high standard of service, the Council has decided that the cost should be recovered directly and not fall as a general cost to the council taxpayer."

Lindsay Frost BA(Hons) DipTP MRTPI, Director of Planning & Environmental Services
Tel: 01273 484437
Fax: 01273 484452
Email:

CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, is the government’s advisor on architecture, urban design and public space. We work directly with architects, planners, designers, developers and clients, offering them guidance on projects that will shape lives. And parks and open spaces are as important to us as bricks and mortar. We give clients hands-on advice on ways to get better value through better design, keeping them up to date and encouraging them to take the best approach from the very start. And our design review work shows clients what mistakes to avoid and what opportunities to seize. Fundamentally, CABE works on behalf of the public. That’s why we’re determined to inspire people to demand more from buildings and spaces. They, after all, are the people left behind after the planners and architects have moved on. CABE was set up in 1999 and it is now a statutory body, funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Chichester Conservation Area Advisory Committee was set up in 1974 to advise the planning authority over all matters affecting the Conservation Area. The Committee meets, usually on a monthly basis, and considers all planning applications which affect the Conservation Area as well as other relevant matters, such as involvement and comment at the initial planning stages of major projects in and around the City centre.

The South East Regional Design Panel was established in 2002 and is a free to use design review service, available to a wide range of public and private organisations. Essentially, the Panel provides a clear indication of the strengths and weaknesses of a development proposal. We try to work at an early stage of a project before ideas and financial commitments are fixed. We find that getting the basics right brings efficiency in the longer term and gives the project every opportunity of achieving design excellence.

English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency helping the Government to support high quality sustainable growth in England. English Partnerships says "Creating communities where people can afford to live and want to live is at the very core of all of our work".

TRICS (Trip Rate Information Computer System) is an essential tool used to assess the potential transport impacts of development proposals and, by Planning Authorities, to validate trip rate assumptions. TRICS is often used for 'after' studies. TRICS is becoming the industry standard for monitoring the impact of Travel Plans or sustainable transport strategies. The use of TRICS enables the data to be compared with other sites and shared with members.

Friends of Lewes was founded in 1952.  It is a registered charity.  Two of its formal aims are to stimulate public interest in the beauty, history and character of the town of Lewes and its surrounding area and to organise concerted action for protecting and enhancing the townscape and for preserving free access to the surrounding area.  The Society liaises with the County, District and Town Councils and other relevant bodies on questions related to these issues.

Lewes Chamber of Commerce represents the traders and businesses of our lovely town, the County Town of Sussex.  Founded in 1935, we are a thriving, active organisation comprising around 100 businesses of every size.  From small retailers to large manufacturers, from architects and designers to builders and printers - everyone benefits from membership of the Chamber.

Lewes Flood Action came into existence at the end of August 2001, at a meeting of hundreds of flood survivors in Malling Community Centre, Lewes, and now has a Steering Group of volunteers representing all the various districts of Lewes which were affected by the flood of 12th to 14th October 2000.

Our local paper. Try a search on "Phoenix" in the news archive and you'll find some interesting results, for example, the Chamber of Commerce's decision back in 2003 to oppose a development of the site on the grounds that it would rob the county town of industrial land and the businesses that occupy it. Or our Council's recent decision to  report the results of last December's public meeting to the planning authority but will not be expressing a view on it. Cllr Michael Chartier said the planning process should prevail and that an application should not be judged before it had appeared. So how and when do we get a chance to comment?