SUSTAINABILITY

Most of our consultees were delighted with Human Nature’s pedigree and commitment to sustainability across all aspects of the project. Ovesco, our local community energy service company, has been engaged in discussions about how they can supply zero carbon electricity to the site, and we have been encouraged in the work to establish a heating system based on ground source heat pumps with the supply of heat and hot water coming through a network of pipes on the site serving all the buildings.

We have run two major stakeholder meetings on the use of timber as the main construction material, which has involved local foresters, our local sustainable construction company, Kind construction (which is based at the Phoenix), and the main timber construction contractors and engineers working in the UK and Europe.

There was a clear desire to see the evidence in the application as to how this was going to be delivered.

Actions arising

One of the big moves in the Phoenix proposal is the creation of a Low Traffic Neighbourhood, implementing the recent guidance from the RTPI (Cracking the Code, RTPI, 2022). This means creating a Co-Mobility Hub at the Causeway edge, which provides the base for a series of comobility services including electric vehicles for car club or hire (50 vehicles with charging points will be provided), E-bike and E-Cargo bike hire (which is already available on the site), and last mile delivery services, as well as links to existing bus services and a new electric shuttle bus for the site which will also connect to the wider town. These services will all provide alternatives to private car ownership which will be available to residents and workers on the site and for people living nearby.

Parking is largely restricted to the Co-Mobility Hub, which means that car drivers will leave their cars in the Hub and then walk or cycle to their destination on the site, or take the shuttle bus if they want to.

At the same time, the pedestrian, wheeling and cycling connections to the site will make it easy and more pleasant for people to move around the neighbourhood and connect to the wider town using sustainable modes of transport. The streets in the new neighbourhood are all designed for low traffic operation, with parking only available for blue badge holders and shortterm on-street parking for deliveries, drop off and pick up. The roads in the neighbourhood are designed to provide priority for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelers, with some of the streets being entirely car free. The detail of this design will be worked up with advice from Lewes Area Access Group.

By limiting the amount of car parking provided, by providing the co-mobility services, and by adopting a “User Centric” approach to travel planning, we have shown in the Transport Assessment that the car trip generation from the site will be reduced by well over 50% compared to traditional transport planning methods, which makes a major contribution to reducing traffic in the town.

The implementation of the Travel Plan will be closely monitored to ensure that the changes in travel behaviour that are being promoted are implemented, with promotion activities being undertaken as required.

Construction traffic, which will be significantly reduced due to the construction process being adopted (with the on-site factory and imported engineered timber kits), will only come along the Causeway from the east, and enter the site at the proposed construction traffic access point off the Causeway, which will ultimately become the entrance to the Co-Mobility Hub. This means that there will be no construction traffic entering the town centre and the Conservation Area.

Actions arising

Life at the Phoenix will enable a shift away from a way of life based on mass consumption, towards a new, smart green way of living, in which sharing resources, reducing consumption and local production are significant components. Everything possible will be done to reduce carbon emissions.

The “build and design” approach to the construction of the buildings means that the buildings are largely made of bio-materials, based on timber frames, which make a major contribution to the Zero Carbon credentials of the development.

Reduced car dependency and the co-mobility services also contribute to a major reduction in emissions as a result of the development.

The neighbourhood is aiming to send no waste to landfill or incineration, by providing a waste management service, community composting, and the comprehensive Reuse service on the site, with its repair café, library of things and second-life goods store.

The Community Canteen and shop on the site will support local regenerative farms as well as using produce grown on the site.

As a result of all this work, the proposals are set to be zero carbon over the lifetime of the development, target zero waste to landfill or incineration, reduce water use and maximise water reuse and recycling, and generate significant biodiversity net gain through the creation of major new habitats in the landscapes, gardens, roof gardens and river bank. All the evidence supporting this work is contained in the Environmental Statement and the Sustainability Strategy that are part of the planning application.

Low traffic neighbourhood and shared co-mobility services will reduce traffic impacts from the development.

Parking will be restricted to the Co-Mobility Hub.

Construction traffic will not pass through the town but will turn directly off the Causeway from the east.

Development will support a shift towards a smarter, greener way of living based on sharing resources, reducing consumption and local production.

9.

Young People

Issues

Young people in particular are currently being forced to leave Lewes as a result of high house prices and rents, with a resultant shift in the demographic of the town towards older, retired people. This is evidenced not just in the ONS demographic numbers, but also in the falling school rolls. At the same time, partly as a result of the loss of venues on the Phoenix site for parties and events, there is little for young people to do in the evenings and weekends in the town, adding to the sense that Lewes is a town for older people with youth being excluded and marginalised. There is a great deal of support from those we consulted to provide event spaces, as well as intergenerational learning space on the site, with the aim of creating opportunities for young people as well as building links between different generations as the town becomes increasingly socially segregated. Many in the town are concerned that the loss of a whole generation of young people will contribute to the town turning into a “dormitory” town, losing the vitality that young people and families bring to a place. Local people are clear that the housing and other facilities should target people who already live and work in Lewes, especially the young, so that homes and jobs are available to meet their needs as they settle into their lives in the town.

Issues

There is strong support for the shared living elements of the proposals, including the cohousing project, shared streets and gardens, food growing and the Reuse Centre.

Over 100 households have registered an interest with our partners at Action in Rural Sussex in the cohousing project.