Page 28 - MJC submissions

STEPS TOWARDS AN AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS
And stipulations

6 BENEFITS
The application has the benefit of removing the EDF eyesore and Seeboard mast.

7 COMMENTS ON KEY ELEMENTS
This part deals in more detail with the key elements of the current application and the
development of WH:LIC and WH:NCP projects. Page | 18

7.1 Sustainability & Development
The words “sustain” and “sustainability” appear throughout NPPF and planning documents
and represent the “golden thread” running through them. In the Ministerial Foreword to the
NPPF, the Rt Hon Greg Clark, MP, the then Minister for Planning, states:

 Sustainability means ensuring that better lives for ourselves don’t mean worse lives for
future generations.

 Development means growth.

The Mid Sussex District Plan 2018 defines sustainability as: “The creation or maintenance of
conditions that fulfil current and future economic, environmental and social requirements”.

The Cambridge dictionary defines sustainability as “the idea that goods and services should be
produced in ways that do not use resources that cannot be replaced and that do not damage
the environment”

Ashurst Wood Sustainability Appraisal Update Report 2015 provides the most meaningful
explanation of sustainability in a statement of principles;

1. Retain the distinctiveness and character of the village by preserving its historic and
environmental features;
2. Protect and enhance the natural beauty of Ashurst Wood, including its geology and
landform, ridge top settlement pattern, rights-of-way and open spaces;

3. Protect the outstanding landscape setting of the village through the reuse of previously
developed land and buildings were appropriate, including the use of materials;
4. Conserve and enhance the biodiversity of the parish, its wildlife habitats and species,
including those of its SSSI;

5. Reduce the impact on climate change and vulnerability to its effects;
6. Maintain and improve the water courses and aquifers in the parish and use and
manage water resources in a sustainable manner;

7. Encourage the reuse, recycling and food composting;

8. Reduce the impact of traffic in the village, and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists
and horse riders;
9. Ensure that residents have the opportunity to live in a decent, well-constructed and
affordable home;

10. Ensure that the community has adequate access to the key services it needs, including
health facilities, convenience shops, schools, recreation and leisure;