Wealden Town Centres Study

Status: Closed

We have appointed Nexus Planning to undertake a Town Centre Study to ask residents about their shopping and leisure preferences in order to provide an evidence base to inform how we plan for our town centres in the new Local Plan.

NEMs Market Research will be conducting telephone interviews and this consultation. In order to make sure that the 1000 households who respond are representative of the Wealden population, the telephone survey will only be available to those called by NEMs. NEMs will use use random digit dialling to invite you to take part. The Council has not shared or provided any personal data as part of this research.

The research will also include some on street surveys in our market towns to capture the views of visitors in person.

The information provided will help give a better understanding of how and where people like to shop, spend their leisure time and use their town centres.

The work will update the previous Town Centre Study (2016) and will take account of changes since that time including; the way people shop, reforms to the planning system and the impact that Covid-19 has had on our town centres.

For key findings and changes made see results below:

Topics covered by this consultation:

Leisure, Culture, Voluntary & Community Sector, Local Businesses, Communication & Engagement, Planning, Economy

Consultation Start Date: 07/06/2021

Consultation End Date: 27/06/2021

Results expected by: 03/09/2021

Please note: these dates are subject to change.

Areas covered by this consultation:

Wealden District (All)

Target audience for this consultation:

Wealden Residents, Wealden Businesses, Visitors & Tourists, Town and Parish Councils, Key Stakeholders

Frequency of this consultation: One-off

Methods of consultation used:

Telephone, Face to Face Interview, On-Street Survey

What Happens Next?

Nexus Planning will use the information collected in the surveys to inform the Council’s new Town Centre Study. The report will help to inform the new Local Plan and its approach to town centre issues. A draft version of the new Local Plan will be published in Spring 2022 for public consultation to give all those who have an interest in the future development of Wealden a chance to have their say on the proposed strategy, policies and allocations.