The final Eastbourne Local Plan consultation is open until 5pm on 13 November. Where the new homes would go, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, and how to make a comment that counts.
Eastbourne residents have until 5pm on Friday 13 November to comment on the town’s new Local Plan. It is the last public stage before the plan goes to a government inspector.
Eastbourne Borough Council opened the six-week representation period at 9am on Friday 2 October, on its Local Plan consultation page. Full Council was asked to approve the plan for consultation on 30 September. The minutes of that meeting had not been published when we checked on 3 October.
This stage is different from the spring consultation. You can no longer just say what you would like to see. The council’s own guidance says comments now have to argue that the plan is, or is not, legally compliant and “sound”.
What the plan proposes
The plan covers 2025 to 2042. Its headline figures, from the published document:
- 4,400 homes over the plan period, or 259 a year
- against a government-assessed need of 11,730 homes, or 690 a year
- delivery of about 190 homes a year at first, rising to 300 a year from 2032/33
- at least 75% of new homes on previously developed land
Our report from the 16 September Cabinet lists all 24 strategic sites, with the three added and three dropped since the spring.
Where the homes would go
The plan splits the borough into 14 neighbourhoods. Each has its own policy saying how many homes it could deliver.
The 14 figures add up to 5,140. That matches the plan’s “total potential supply”, which counts homes already built or permitted, allocated sites, windfall and extra capacity it has identified. It is more than the 4,400 the plan commits to delivering.
Three things stand out:
- The Town Centre takes almost a third, at 1,624 homes.
- Town Centre, Seaside and Meads together account for 2,984, or 58% of the total.
- Ratton and Willingdon Village is asked for a minimum of just 15.
The plan is not consistent with itself on two of these figures. The Town Centre policy says 1,624, but the supporting text in the same chapter says the neighbourhood “has the potential to deliver 1,662 homes”. Upperton’s policy says 496, while its supporting text says “a minimum of 516”. We have used the policy figures in the chart. Differences like these are exactly what a representation at this stage can point out.
What counts as a comment now
Under the rules for this stage, the inspector looks at whether the plan is legal and whether it is “sound”. The tests of soundness are that the plan is:
- positively prepared: it tries to meet the area’s needs as far as possible
- justified: it rests on proportionate evidence and is a reasonable choice against the alternatives
- effective: it can be delivered, and the council has worked with its neighbours where it needs to
- consistent with national policy
The council’s guidance note notes that the legal “duty to cooperate” was removed on 25 March 2026. The inspector will still check whether the council has worked properly with neighbouring authorities and infrastructure providers.
A useful comment names the policy, site or paragraph it is about. It says whether the issue is legal compliance or soundness, explains why, and suggests the change that would fix it. The guidance says an inspector is more likely to find a comment helpful “if it includes a clearly defined modification”.
How to respond
You can comment in four ways:
- online, against the section of the plan you are commenting on
- through the online representation form
- by email, sending the downloadable form to LocalPlan@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk
- by post to Planning Policy, Eastbourne Borough Council, Eastbourne Town Hall, Grove Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4UG
The form has two parts. Part A, your details, is filled in once. Part B is filled in for each separate point you want to make.
To read the plan on paper, copies are at the Customer Contact Centre, 1 Grove Road, BN21 4TW, from 10am to 2pm, Monday to Friday. There is also a virtual exhibition and an online policies map. Questions go to the Planning Policy Team on 01323 410000, quoting “Eastbourne Local Plan”.
Before you send it
The council’s statement of representations procedure and guidance set out some rules worth knowing:
- Your name will be published. Representations cannot be treated as confidential, and the name and organisation of respondents will normally be made public.
- You may not get another chance. The guidance says not to assume there will be a further opportunity. After submission, new comments can only be made if the inspector invites them.
- You can ask to speak at the hearings if you are seeking a change. The inspector decides who appears. Written and spoken representations “carry the same weight”.
- You can ask to be told when the plan is submitted, when the inspector reports, and when it is adopted.
- AI is allowed, with conditions. You can use AI tools to help write a representation. But you are responsible for making sure it reflects your own views, that any policies or case law it cites are correct, and that generic or repetitive content is removed.
What happens next
When the period closes, the council will consider the representations and submit the plan, its evidence and every valid comment to the Secretary of State. An independent planning inspector then examines it, with hearing sessions if needed.
What it means for you
If a site near you is in the plan, this is the stage where your comment goes in front of the inspector who decides whether the plan can be adopted. After 13 November, the plan is largely out of local hands.
If you want to object, object to something specific. A comment that names a policy, gives a reason and proposes a change carries more weight than a general objection to development.
If you live in the town centre, Seaside or Meads, read your neighbourhood’s chapter: between them they carry well over half the potential new homes. What is already in the planning system is on our Eastbourne planning news page.
Sources
- Eastbourne Borough Council, Local Plan Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) consultation page for the opening and closing times, the ways to respond, paper copy locations and the virtual exhibition, checked 3 October 2026.
- Eastbourne Local Plan 2025-2042, Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) for the housing figures (paragraphs 4.1.2 and 4.1.48, Table 1, Policy SS5) and the neighbourhood policies N1-A to N14-A, with the supporting text at paragraphs 5.1.32 and 5.2.19.
- Guidance Note on Making Representations for the soundness tests, the duty to cooperate, the form, the hearings and the AI guidance.
- Statement of Representations Procedure for the inspection arrangements and publication of names.
- Eastbourne Borough Council Full Council, 30 September 2026, agenda for the referral of the plan from Cabinet.
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