November 14th, 2025

Lewes and its local communities continue to be a hugely important part of the National Park since its creation 15 years ago and planning is at the heart of ensuring the area’s continued vibrancy and prosperity.

During that time some planning work has been delivered on the National Park Authority’s behalf by Lewes District Council as part of a “Host Authority” contract and a number of successes have been achieved, including strong neighbourhood planning, much-needed affordable homes and the creation of new wildlife havens.

We have more recently been engaging and working more closely with the groups which represent the Town, including the Town Council, to help shape the future of the Local Plan and how it can continue to support this important town in the National Park. We also joined the Lewes Floods 25th Anniversary events to remember and learn from these devastating floods. We look forward to continuing these relationships and working together to deliver for Lewes.

In that vein and by mutual agreement the current contract with Lewes District Council is coming to an end on 31 March 2026, giving us the next five months to work together on a smooth and efficient transfer.

As the largest settlement in the National Park, we’re looking at the potential of an area for the team to work from in Lewes to deliver this planning work.

We’re aware of the unique nature of planning issues in and around Lewes and the interest they can generate. We’re keen to ensure that planning delivers the best results for the people of Lewes and the National Park, having regard to the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan.

The SDNPA planning teams deal with applications across the whole of the National Park and six of the districts’ entire planning workload are already handled by the National Park Authority. For more information see www.southdowns.gov.uk/planning-process/

FAQs have been produced to help answer any queries during the transition period and they can be read here.