1. Introduction

At its meeting on 6th June 2000, the Executive Committee received a report by the Sussex Downs Officer on the Analysis of Consultations Monitoring of Planning Applications. The Executive Committee considered that the full Board should receive a short report on the matter.

2. The Board's Planning Role

2.1 The main points to emerge from the Sussex Downs Officer's reports of 14th February and 6th June are that:

2.2 The Board has developed and established an influential role in the planning system throughout the Sussex Downs. The Board's influence is now so important that in many instances developers and their agents are anxious to obtain the preliminary views of the Board's Planning Officer at an early stage in the formulation of proposals. Many applicants are keen to ensure that the Sussex Downs Conservation Board is fully involved in the development of their proposals and that, wherever possible, they receive the Board's support.

2.3 Similarly, local authority officers and members take the Board's views seriously and, through the "right to be heard" the Board has a special relationship with local planning authorities which enables it to expand upon its views at either officer or member level.

2.4 There can be little doubt that the Board, through its planning officer and Planning Committee has made a major contribution to the quality of decision making on planning matters within the Sussex Downs AONB. It is right for the Board to be concerned about detail and how this may impact upon the character of the AONB. That all the Board's 'objections' are not resolved in respect of every application is not surprising and should not unduly concern Members. Officers negotiate proposals in order to improve upon the submitted scheme. These negotiations may go only part way to achieving the objectives of consultees, but the local planning authority must then decide whether those matters which remain unresolved amount to reasons to justify a refusal of planning permission. Very often they do not, but that should not be interpreted as failure.

2.5 Work being undertaken elsewhere on possible planning models for a South Downs National Park has demonstrated that the performance of local planning authorities throughout the two AONBs is similar to (and in some cases better than) that of National Parks (see Appendix 1).

2.6 If the Board, through its comments, achieves improvements in development proposals or is able to add support to a local authority in resisting inappropriate or harmful developments in the AONB, then it has been and will continue to be successful.

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