Sussex Coastal Towns SubRegional Study

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Sussex Coastal Towns Sub-Regional Study

• Mike Langthorne
• Team Leader Strategic Policy
• East Sussex County Council

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Introduction

• Difficult problems
• Faces challenging issues
• Investigative study not a strategy
• Concentrate on conclusions
• Questions for debate

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Indicative Study Area
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Need for a strategy

• Combination of pressures, problems, limitations
  so different from rest of SE
• poorly performing economy
• net out-commuting
• tight development constraints
• lack of local housing demand
• poor transport infrastructure
• Sustainable economic regeneration is key issue

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1 Economy

• Consensus - to seek higher economic growth
• Less agreement - about scale of employment growth
  necessary or possible to achieve it

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2 Transport

• Much better transport infrastructure and services
  are vital now and in future
• existing deficiencies on A27/A259 already holding
  up development
• need major investment in east-west routes
• demand management and local multi-modal schemes
  needed too

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3 Development Constraints

• Little scope left for further sustainable
  development close to coastal towns
• Environmental constraints around them are
  tightening
• National Park
• Climate change

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4 Priority - Economic Development

• In setting development levels, greater priority
  should be given to economic development over
  housing to balance labour supply/demand better
• 55,000 net out-commuting
• no local housing demand
• need better sites, but this may challenge
  environmental constraints

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5 Affordable Housing

• In housing, priority must be to addressing
  affordability
• Housing costs high compared to local earnings
• Lack of affordable housing is a constraint in
  recruiting skilled/key service workers

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6 Scale of Development

• Very difficult to meet even RPG9 rate of
  development to 2026 in sustainable way
• Strategic choices
• close to towns - high environmental costs
• respecting environment - dispersed pattern
• pushing development further inland unlikely to
  help coast

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7 Urban Capacity

• Doubt long term ability to deliver housing within
  coastal towns at recent past rates
• densities already high here
• protect employment sites
• Impact of climate change questions wisdom of
  intensifying towns at flood risk
• Needs careful assessment

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8 Social Space

• Must also meet communities social and
  environmental needs for space
• essential quality of life component
• parks, halls, clinics, community centres etc.

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9 Crawley/Gatwick Links

• Crawley/Gatwick cannot resolve economic problems
  of coastal towns
• Unwise to build such a strategy
• Direction
• Improve business links
• North south routes are important
• Distinctive but complementary strategies needed
• Co-ordinated implementation

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Questions for debate

• What are most important ingredients for
  delivering economic regeneration?
• Should we give greater emphasis to economic
  regeneration? How?
• Implications of continuing development at RPG9
  rate? And increasing it?

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Questions for debate 2

• Is Sussex coast an appropriate location for
  regional scale growth?
• How can the South East Plan ensure development
  requirements for area are met in most sustainable
  way? Any case for relaxing environmental
  constraints?
• Do circumstances justify sub-regional policies in
  the South East Plan? If so for what area?