July 10th, 2026.

Lewes Green Party Statement:




Lewes Green district councillors attack "appalling" government planning reforms

The Green Party group at Lewes District Council is appalled by the Government’s recent planning reforms, which strip power away from local communities and elected councillors and leave residents far less able to defend their green fields and open spaces. They rob the planning system of the local knowledge and experience that protects our district.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework and Planning and Infrastructure Act centralises decision-making and weakens local planning policies. Councillors are now barred from deciding whole categories of applications, and residents have lost the right to have their objections heard by a planning committee. Together, these changes are a serious erosion of local democracy.

These changes will make it far harder for councils to resist unsuitable development, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas such as Lewes District, where infrastructure is already under huge pressure. A council that wants to refuse a large housing scheme must now consult the Government before it can say no. This means decisions on what is built in this area are taken by politicians in Westminster, not local representatives. Once the chalk downland and historic settlements that give our district its character are lost, they cannot be restored.

Under the new framework, the painfully constructed Local Plan that reflects the particular character, needs, and landscape of Lewes District will count for little against nationally set rules. The work of this council, and of the residents who shaped it, will be swept aside by a one-size-fits-all formula written in Whitehall.

Councillor Zoe Nicholson, (pictured), Leader of the Green group on Lewes District Council, said: “Planning should be done with communities, not to them. These reforms completely sideline local people and elected councillors in favour of a centralised, one-size-fits-all approach. We need more homes, but they must be the right homes in the right places, supported by infrastructure, and shaped by the communities they affect. Local democracy is not an obstacle to good planning — it is essential to it.”

The Green group will continue to oppose every measure that strips power from communities and weakens their voice in planning decisions.