WASP was an Alliance of Planning and Green space interest groups dedicated to protecting and enhancing green spaces in Wealden by challenging both local and national policy makers on planning and policy adversely affecting quality of life in Wealden.
All the local groups which made up WASP continue to operate. However the WASP website has now closed.
WASP basically became a one-man website, and researching content, verifying it and producing it became a very major job. Also the website had started to generate a lot of email traffic, which took additional time to deal with.
The content producer has now decided to move toward a proper retirement (having also being initially impacted by Long Covid)
The small content below is left to demonstrate why everyone needs to be concerned and keep campaigning.
REMEMBER whilst Wealden claim to be pressuring the government to reduce housing numbers, and the Government has for over 18 months stated they are re-considering their policy, NO change has actually taken place.
MEANWHILE the construction industry continues to contribute heavily to Conservative party funds.
Ask yourself, why are they contributing these amounts of money (and we are talking MILLIONS of pounds)
SO when you get the chance to go to the Ballot Box, our advice is don't vote based on the future promises being msde by your Wealden Councillors. Vote based on what they have done, and the over-development, accompanied by lack of infrastructure and green space, which they have presided over
SO WHY SHOULD WE ALL BE WORRIED?
Currently Wealden will be planning to build a MINIMUM of 1225 houses PER ANNUM - 24500 over 20 years - which would increase the number of houses in Wealden by about 36%. The figure may be higher if Wealden are forced to build extra numbers for neighbouring areas such as Eastbourne. This is in spite of ONS (Office of National Statistics) figures which show Wealden population would only expect to rise by about 10.5% over the same period.
This is an increase from 450 houses per annum which Wealden had as a target in their 2013 Core strategy - so almost TRIPLE
Planning Permission has been granted for over 9000 houses, many of which are as yet unbuilt. The fact is developers control the market and decide what’s good for them and when to build.
Developers continue to plan homes which are not the kind of housing we need in Wealden. In South Wealden, assessed housing need states that the area ideally requires about 80% 1 and 2 bedroom properties to balance the housing stock, whilst developers ignore this genuine demand and submit plans for developments with 70-80% 3 and 4 bedroom homes.
By contrast, in North Wealden, development is creeping onto the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). In fact over 50% of Wealden is protected as within the High Weald AONB, Pevensey Levels and Ashdown Forest Special Area of Conservation. So where will all this development take place? A field near you?
It's also calculated that Wealden can only supply about 25% of the required jobs for the new population - meaning that new residents will either be remote workers or commuters. So where is the infrastructure, and how do we provide integrated infrastructure to thousands of commuters in an area which has declared a Climate emergency?
Thanks and acknowledgement to Heathfield Green Space for some content shown here
THE "SECRET" NEW A27 ROAD
Many will be aware that there are currently some improvement works taking place along the A27 between Polegate and Lewes? However, how many of you know that there is a well-developed campaign, supported by local Councils and MPS, to build a completely new dual carriageway? What's concerning us however, is what comes first, the chicken or the egg? See our article HERE