'No decision on new town'

A report in Saturday's Argus claimed that a commuter town the size of Burgess Hill could be built between the towns to meet the county's needs for new homes.

The front page story said that countryside between Lewes and Uckfield was 'the most likely candidate' for 22,500 new dwellings, particularly if the rail link between the towns was reopened.

However, the report has been dismissed as 'purely speculative' by members of the committee responsible for advising on the best location for the homes.

Councillors in Brighton and Hove and East Sussex have joined forces in an effort to find potential sites for the 22,500 new homes the Government say must be built by 2021. These new dwellings will be in addition to the 45,400 houses already planned to be built in the county be 2011.

Councillors and officers who make up the Joint Strategic Planning Advisory Committee met for only the second time this week. And the message from committee members was: Nothing has been decided.

Alistair Robson, assistant policy director of transport and environment at ESCC, said: 'The recent report in The Argus suggesting that there could be a new town of 22,500 dwellings with a location between Lewes and Uckfield "the most likely candidate" is purely speculative.

'There are no plans for a new settlement of this size in this location. The two councils have made no decisions, at this early stage, about how or where the extra homes will be accommodated.'

Mr Robson said that the two councils would only consider building a new town 'as a last step'.

'Brownfield'

'The first step will be to see how much more development could be accommodated in existing towns on previously developed "brownfield" sites. There is a regional target that 60 per cent should be provided for in this way.

'Secondly, the councils will look at where extensions to existing towns might be developed.

'Only as a last step will the councils look at the idea of developing a new settlement.'

However, in a report put together for Tuesday's meeting, B&HCC director of environment Jenny Rowlands and ESCC director of transport and environment Bob Wilkins said that increasingly limited development opportunities within or on the edges of existing towns meant that the development of new towns had to be an option.

'We are on the threshold of having to consider seriously the idea of developing one or more new settlements if we are to accommodate anything like the scale of housing expected.

'Such a proposal would undoubtedly prove very controversial. However, new settlements are not ruled out by Government policy.'