We ask all Wealden District Councillors to vote NO to the Wealden Local Plan at the full council meeting on Friday, September 18th, 2026.

The Plan proposes the development of extensive housing, mostly on greenfield sites, mostly in the already overloaded Low Weald. Around 25,000 new houses could be built on the back of this plan, an increase of 1/3rd on the existing housing stock.  These numbers are over-inflated and simply unsustainable.

The  number of new homes in the Plan is dictated by the Westminster government, who believe that building more market housing will ease the housing shortage for those who can least afford it.  The government formula adds even more houses to the target for our district, compared with other parts of the country, due to the affordability gap between average wages and house prices being relatively high.  

But the reasoning behind the policy and formula is demonstrably wrong. In Wealden, despite thousands of new market homes being approved in recent years, not only do around 8,000 remain unbuilt but also the waiting list for council housing has increased from 900 to 1,300.  Even the "affordable" market housing is out of reach to many, because of low wages.  Repeating the same failed policy will just result in more misery for those at the bottom of the ladder and for the residents.

Councillors, you should vote NO to this Plan because:

1. We don't need the ludicrous 25,000 houses dictated by Westminster, we only need something around the 1,300 on the housing waiting list.
2. Our district, like most others in the over-crowded South of England, is suffering from overloaded infrastructure and services, particularly health, water, sewerage and transport.  This summer we have been in official drought and the water supply has failed several times. Southeast Water recently wrote to Wealden DC saying they cannot supply the number of houses in the Plan.  The issue of water supply alone should be enough to vote NO to the plan.
3. The Plan's greenfield development involves the destruction of farmland, nature and green spaces, all of which are vital for the ecosystem which supports all life in Wealden.  The UK's food security is already dangerously low and destroying farmland only adds to this.  Building on green fields also increases global warming, and is therefore contrary to the council's declaration of a climate emergency.
4. There is a very strong feeling against overdevelopment in this district.  Overdevelopment was a key concern in the 2024 local elections and many people voted for you because they thought you would stand up to overdevelopment.  The first local plan consultation earlier this year produced hundreds of objections to the level of housing and the destruction of green space.  Major greenfield planning applications routinely result in hundreds of objections. In April this year an action day against greenfield destruction, organised by the Community Planning Alliance, drew several demonstrations across the district.  "Save Wealden from Overdevelopment Team", a Facebook group dedicated to exposing and discussing overdevelopment in the district, now has over 5,800 members.
5. Greed, speculation, corruption and cronyism pervade the planning process on greenfield sites because the financial uplift to the landowner is around 50 times the value of agricultural land.
6. Most development will be in large out of town estates, built by multi-national conglomerates, whose profits go to faceless investors. The residents are car-dependent and remote from town and village centres.

The solution to the housing shortage in Wealden is to re-using existing buildings and developed land.  It is to bring back into use the thousands of under-occupied or empty homes across the district.  It is to revitalise our towns and villages by putting people back.  It is to convert commercial buildings such as the increasing number of disused shops, using small to medium sized, local developers to keep money in the local economy.  It is to supply truly affordable, sustainable homes which are cheap to buy or rent and cheap to run, for the poorest in our communities. It is to build upwards, not outwards.

Having no plan may result in Wealden Planning being taken into "special measures" by the government, where major planning applications are dealt with by the national planning inspectorate.  Lewes Council and several other are currently in such a position.  If the government want to dictate to us in this way, let's bring it on, we can fight every inappropriate application without a Plan.

Wealden District Council is going to disappear soon, due to the re-organisation of local government.  Please do not let this disastrous plan be one of its last legacies.

Councillors, please vote NO to the adoption of the current Wealden Local Plan. Stand up for our community's needs and desires, rather than a greed-driven, wrong-headed surge that leaves lasting scars on our environment and society.