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Lewes and Eastbourne
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Agenda item

Written questions from Councillors

To deal with written questions which councillors may wish to put to the Chair of the Council, a Lead Councillor on the Cabinet or the Chair of any committee or sub-committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12 (if any).  Any such questions notified to the Head of Democratic Services by 5 pm on 16 February will be circulated in an agenda supplement.

Minutes:

Two written questions had been received in accordance with procedure rule 12, from Councillor Macleod and Councillor Banks both to the Leader of the Council, and notified to Councillors in an agenda supplement.

 

Question 1 – Councillor Macleod asked the following question:

" Would the Leader agree that, as we are facing a climate emergency, it is madness to progress the building of a new billion-pound dual carriageway between Lewes and Polegate? Would it not make more sense and be a lot cheaper to cut fares on the parallel railway and encourage drivers to switch from road to rail? Will he put on record his opposition to a new offline road through the Downs?”

 

Councillor MacCleary indicated his opposition to the proposal for a new offline dual carriageway between Lewes and Polegate, and then asked Councillor O’Brien to respond in full.  Councillor O’Brien confirmed her opposition to the scheme, which ignored the vocal opposition from local villages and the impact on the countryside and would only marginally improve travel times.  She felt that the money could be better spent on effective public transport and Wi-Fi infrastructure.

 

Councillor Macleod asked a supplementary question – “Could the Leader of the Council write to the MP Maria Caulfield to get a clear answer as to her view on the proposals, as she has expressed different views to different groups of residents?”

 

Councillor MacCleary responded that he was happy to write to the MP.

 

Question 2 – Councillor Banks asked the following question:

“We have all now seen the horrifying news that the number of dwellings Lewes District Council is being forced to find land for is set to more than double to 782 per year or 15,640 across a 20 year period.  This would be devastating for our countryside and our open spaces across the district.  Can the Leader of the Council provide an update on what the plans are to urgently lobby the government to stop this and revert to a lower number which reflects what our communities need?”

 

Councillor MacCleary asked Councillor O’Brien to respond in detail but confirmed his concern as to the numbers arising from the standard method calculation.  Councillor O’Brien advised that she shared his great concern at the target of 15,000 new homes over 20 years, which would mean an increase of a third on the current number of houses in the District.  She confirmed that a letter had been received from the Government (MHCLG) to confirm that the Council had calculated the target correctly.  The Council was unable to appeal the target figure and algorithm, but would put forward the evidence to an future planning inspector as to why it could not be met and would continue to appeal to the Government to amend the target.

 

Councillor Banks asked a supplementary question ‘What are the plans to move the lobbying up a gear on this issue?’.

 

Councillor MacCleary advised that he would write to the Government to protest the calculation formula, and invited the Leader of the Opposition to join him, and would ask the local MP to lobby Government to revise the figure.

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