The North Street/Phoenix development

Am I against the so called Phoenix Quarter development?

No, I'm not campaigning for or against it. I’m the first to agree that the Phoenix industrial estate and North Street area of this ward need to be sorted out. I also recognise that the town needs more affordable housing, together with new businesses to provide jobs and boost our economy. There's no argument about any of that.

What I am against is going ahead with any major development, be it here or elsewhere in Lewes, without proper consideration of all the consequences. I've mentioned some of these consequences on my town planning page and there are some very interesting infrastructure discussions on the Lewes Matters site.

But specifically regarding the Phoenix, as the only independent candidate in this ward, I cannot ignore the fact that Lewes' largest development proposal for years is completely in our ward. So whether a North Street/Phoenix development is good or bad - and whether, specifically, Angel Properties' Phoenix Quarter proposals are good or bad - we must recognise that they will affect our ward more than any other part of Lewes and we must look at those effects before we go ahead and say yes.

I also have a problem with how the incumbent council has handled this issue up to now. There seems to have been no long-term vision, no long-term planning ... and nearly all the voters in this ward that I've spoken to are afraid that the council simply intends to let all these developments to go through, and then try to catch up with the consequences when it's too late.

And I have a problem with how badly the people of this ward - and, indeed the people of Lewes - are represented on the council's all important planning applications committee. This committee is the group of people that will decide Lewes' future for the next generation or two and it's a big committee - 11 people - yet only one, just one, of them actually lives in Lewes! In old democratic terms, this sounds to me a lot like taxation without representation. And certainly - to adapt the phrase - like legislation without representation.

So I'm not standing for or against the 'Phoenix Quarter' or any other specific development. What I'm standing for is the right of Lewesians to have these matters decided properly, in the best interests of Lewes and in consultaton with Lewesians.