The Townspeople's Opinion

Lewes Matters exists so that the people of Lewes can tell those who are responsible for shaping our town’s future exactly what they think. And now, in the weeks immediately before Angel Property submits it far-reaching plan for Lewes’ Phoenix industrial estate, we bring you the results of our survey.

This tells us that Lewes does welcome development in principle...

• Exciting, sustainable development that will enhance our town.
• That will integrate with the historic town centre, rather than dominate it.
• That will bring affordable housing within the grasp of our young people rather than send them out of the area.
• That will create and safeguard existing employment, rather than undermine it.
• That will have as a key principle, the inclusion of a wide range of sustainable technologies and targets, rather than pay lip service to them.
• That will improve the infrastructure, rather than burden it.
• That will complement our specialist retail base rather than overshadow it.

So Lewes Planning Authority, these are the factors which the town believe you should take into account when you assess the Phoenix application.

The people of Lewes are speaking. Please listen.

To learn about the survey results in full, click the following link for the Adobe Acrobat .pdf file -  PHOENIX DEVELOPMENT EXHIBITION SURVEY RESULTS.

Results at a glance...

• Almost equal numbers felt the exhibition was informative as uninformative.
• The same ratio felt they either understood or did not understand the proposals.
• 3 out of  4 believe that the area should  be a mixed use of residential, live-work and retail.
• Over 8 out of 10 people believe that fewer homes than the 800 proposed should be permitted.
• 9 out of 10 believe that a least 25% of these homes should be built as affordable.
• 9 out of 10 would like to see a maximum of 5 storeys for all buildings, with 5 out of 10 preferring a maximum of 3 storeys.
• Nearly 8 out of 10 do not want to see leading brand stores in this development and believe that these would have a major impact on local traders.
• 9 out of ten wish to see a 10% renewable energy policy insisted on for a development of this scale.
• 9 out of 10  people feel it crucial or important that water saving technologies are incorporated.
• 8 out of ten people believe that the traffic management and parking facilities are poor in Lewes and are likely to become worse as a result of this proposed evelopment.
• Over 2/3 of all respondents believe that the proposed development will make Lewes either worse or much worse.