Wealden District Council is preparing a new Local Plan. The Local Plan will be the key planning document for Wealden District, excluding the area covered by the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA). The SDNPA has planning powers for its own area. Once adopted, the Local Plan will form part of the Development Plan for the District, replacing all existing local plan policies and will be used to assess and make decisions on planning applications.
In March 2024, Wealden District Council published a draft local plan (known as Regulation 18) that set out the Council’s draft policies and growth strategy for the plan period. A summary of the main issues to the draft Wealden Local Plan (March 2024) were presented to our Local Plan Sub Committee on 5 March 2025. However, in December 2024, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was updated as well as the calculation on housing need, known as the ‘standard method’ which results in increased housing need within Wealden District compared to that in our March 2024 draft local plan. Subsequently, the Council considered at that Local Plan Sub Committee on 5 March 2025 that a further consultation stage is needed to address those national planning changes and to consider whether further changes to the spatial strategy are required.
This ‘Focused’ Draft Local Plan consultation looks ahead to 2042. The Draft Local Plan focuses on a long-term spatial strategy for growth, including proposed locations for development and it provides a range of draft strategic policies for housing, the economy, town centres and Gypsy and Traveller provision. The Draft Local Plan also provides updates to our affordable housing policy, Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS) policy and a new policy on Coastal Change Management Areas (CCMAs). It does not present a full Local Plan draft at this stage. We need focus, through this consultation, on areas updated through the recent national policy changes which give rise to the need for further consideration in that wider context.
The consultation on the ‘Focused’ Draft Local Plan will run from Friday 6 February 2026 to 5pm on Friday 20 March 2026. Any responses received after this cannot be accepted.
Whether you have comments on the overall spatial strategy, the individual site allocations and / or any of the Plan’s draft policies, we really would like to hear from you. You can comment on the documents online using our online consultation portal https://consult.wealden.gov.uk/kse/. Full instructions and a video on how to comment are provided. This is your opportunity to feed into this process ahead of us developing and testing the plan further and publishing the Proposed Submission Local Plan for Consultation (Regulation 19) later this year.
All of the documents relating to the consultation can be found below:
Alternatively, hard copies of the ‘Focused’ Draft Local Plan and other key consultation documents such as the Sustainability Appraisal can be viewed at a number of locations including the Council offices, libraries and several Town/Parish Council offices. Please see the list here.
You can also view our online virtual exhibition at any time, or you can visit one of our ‘in person’ exhibitions during the consultation to speak to Officers about the Local Plan. The dates, times and locations of the ‘in person’ exhibitions are listed here and below.
Venue | Date | Time |
Ethel Wood Community Centre, Pevensey Bay | Thu 12 Feb | 13:00–19:00 |
Uckfield Civic Centre | Sat 14 Feb | 10:00–16:00 |
Horam Village Hall | Wed 18 Feb | 14:00–20:00 |
Polegate Community Centre | Thu 19 Feb | 14:00–20:00 |
East Hoathly Village Hall | Sat 21 Feb | 10:00–16:00 |
Maresfield Village Hall | Tue 24 Feb | 14:00–20:00 |
Heathfield Community Centre | Thu 26 Feb | 14:00–20:00 |
Hailsham Civic Community Hall | Sat 28 Feb | 10:00–16:00 |
Crowborough Town Council Offices | Mon 2 Mar | 14:00–20:00 |
The Stables Hall, Frant | Thu 12 Mar | 14:00–20:00 |
Local Development Scheme
The Council recently adopted its Local Development Scheme (LDS) (2026) that identifies and sets out the timetable for the planning documents that we will prepare to plan for development in our administrative area. The document provides information for our local communities and stakeholders to find out about the planning policy documents being prepared and covers the period 2026-2028.
The LDS was approved at a Full Council Meeting on Thursday 29th January 2026.
Following on from the decision to adopt the LDS, the Council has and will continue to progress with an update to the emerging Wealden Local Plan through developing its evidence base and revising its development strategy following the changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024. The next stage in the Local Plan known as ‘Regulation 19’ is due to be published later in 2026 as outlined in the LDS, before being submitted formally to the Planning Inspectorate at the end of the calendar year.
Previous Consultations
The emerging Local Plan has previously been through the following public consultation stages: