East Chiltington Parish Council is consulted by the relevant Planning Authority (which is either Lewes District Council or the South Downs National Park Authority) on all planning applications.  Properties south of the railway line are within the national park (SDNPA), those to the north of the railway are covered by LDC. Any views expressed by the Parish Council should be taken into account by the Planning Authority before a decision is made, providing the points made are relevant to the determination of a planning application.

The final decision is made by the Planning Authority, not the Parish Council.

It is important to note that:

  • Parish councils are not Planning Authorities. They are only statutory consultees in the planning process. This means that they only have the right to be informed of planning applications within the parish.
  • They cannot approve or reject planning applications.
  • They can only comment on planning applications in the same way that individuals can comment. Consequently the length of time taken to determine a planning application is governed by the local planning authority not the parish council.
  • A parish council can request that it be given extra time to comment on an application.
  • The decision whether this is granted rests solely with the planning authority and it’s own deadlines for decision making.
  • The comments agreed by the council are submitted in writing by the parish clerk to the relevant planning authority.
  • The process is exactly the same as that of an individual wishing to comment on a planning application.

The parish council will also be consulted on matters relating to planning within the parish. Presently the parish council has been and will be responding to the Lewes District Council Local plan which will set out the way the district will meet future housing targets. Following earlier consultation which received a record number of responses, East Chiltington parish council was pleased to see that the proposal from Eton College to build a small town of over 3,000 houses on North Barnes Farm, has been rejected by Lewes District council as not a suitable site. You can read the council response here.

The South Downs National Park authority had asked those parishes partly or wholly within the park to produce a Parish Priority Statement which they will use to inform their planning decisions. You can read that document here.