Events for the next 31 days

21 May 2013 - Lewes Town Hall Market
28 May 2013 - Lewes Town Hall Market
29 May 2013 - Grants Panel
02 June 2013 - Coronation Diamond Jubilee Tea Party
04 June 2013 - Lewes Town Hall Market
04 June 2013 - Lewes Town Hall Market
04 June 2013 - Planning Committee
11 June 2013 - Lewes Town Hall Market
18 June 2013 - Lewes Town Hall Market
20 June 2013 - Full Council

Neighbourhood Plan for Lewes





 

Lewes Town Council needs the support of residents and community groups to develop a Neighbourhood Plan for Lewes.

Experts from the South Downs National Park Authority joined Town Councillors in the Town Hall on Saturday 16th February, where they gave a short presentation followed by an open forum, which was repeated on the hour, each hour through the day.   Councillors wanted to hear the community’s ideas on the future of the town and are looking for representatives to volunteer for the public steering group that will be needed to carry the process forward.  These hourly “bite-sized” introductory sessions were well-attended and we received many helpful comments.

You can see the slides from the National Park Authority officers’ presentation by clicking here.

A Neighbourhood Plan is a new type of plan, introduced by the government in 2011, which can set out a vision, aims, policies and proposals for future development of a neighbourhood. These plans can only be adopted following independent examination and a 50% ‘yes’ vote in a public referendum but; once agreed, the Plan forms part of the statutory development framework for the town and the local authority and planning inspectors have to take it into account when making planning decisions.

Neighbourhood Plans are about the use and development of land and can deal with a range of social, economic and environmental issues.  They can be comprehensive, dealing with a wide range of issues, or they may have a more limited focus. They must conform to national planning policy and the Local Plan - Core Strategy, which has been developed in partnership between the South Downs National Park Authority and Lewes District Council.

Community engagement is vital. It cannot work properly unless the public sign up to the idea and local communities are prepared to help carry it forward - it involves people at a really practical level.

To give us your views, or to volunteer to help, download a comments form by clicking here.

To find out more, contact Lewes Town Council at the Town Hall, High Street, Lewes, BN7 2QS   telephone 01273 471469 email info@lewes-tc.gov.uk

 

WELCOME to our website!





Lewes Town Council is one of the 300 largest of the 9,800-or-so Parish Councils in England and Wales, with expenditure budgeted at nearly £926,000. It is the successor to Lewes Borough Council, which was incorporated in 1881.  We are based at the Town Hall, in the High Street, which has been the home of Lewes’ local Council since 1893.

Please explore our website; the menus above offer a variety of information and we  add to this all the time.  If you can't find what you are looking-for; please let us know.

 

The Council comprises eighteen elected members – six representing each of three electoral wards (Bridge, Castle, and Priory), and it employs fifteen staff (7 full-time).  Council meets approximately every five weeks and often creates working-parties for large projects or short tasks.  These can co-opt additional members from the community.

There are four “lead members”:   Finance & Policy - Environment & Tourism - Youth & Community; and Communications, who usually act as Chairmen for any working parties set-up within those areas of responsibility, and as our official spokesperson as required.  Planning applications are considered by a standing committee that meets every three weeks, and there are functional panels for internal matters: Personnel, and Internal Audit/Corporate Governance. A third; the financial Grants Panel, assesses grant applications from voluntary & community sector organizations, and agrees an annual total of over £50,000 in amounts ranging between £50 and £2,000.

We own The Pells, where the open-air pool is operated for us each summer by a local community charity, and Lewes Priory (let to a tenant Trust). We own and operate the Town Hall and the All Saints Centre - run as venues for hire, and offering activities ranging from dance-classes; tai-chi; cinema, and a toy-library, to world-class sculpture exhibitions (Auguste Rodin, Anthony Caro, Henry Moore, David Nash); weddings; and musical and theatre events of all types. We also own the Bridgeview (Malling) Community Centre, which is managed for us by the Malling Community Association. We influence town planning and tourism, and provide various local amenities such as litter bins; bus-shelters and other street furniture.  We offer more than 200 allotment plots over our seven sites across the town, and are joint owners of the 44 hectares (approx 110 acres) of open downland at Landport Bottom.

We can financially support or enhance the local functions of other tiers of government, and other public services, such as financing additional environmental cleansing or providing funds for local Police Community Support Officers or CCTV (we pay for the cameras in the town).  All our expenditure is financed either direct from our precept on Council Tax, from reserves or from third-party funds such as National Lottery schemes.  Borrowing for our sector of government is strictly-controlled and requires the consent of the Secretary of State.

This is a time of change in local government, and Parish Councils face an even busier future with the latest initiatives focussed upon localism.  We are recognized as the tier closest to the community, whilst District and County Councils play a more strategic role (transport; health; housing; education etc.).  Elements of the recently-enacted Localism Act 2011 offer parishes a more active role, if they want it, than at any time since the last “big” local government reorganization in 1974.

With the economic climate forcing reviews of the mechanisms and funding of local government at Principal Authority level (County; District and Unitary councils), it is likely that many non-statutory (often called “discretionary”) services; land and property assets etc may be devolved to Parish Councils.  Lewes Town Council considers itself well-placed to address any additional responsibilities or duties, and we look forward to the next few years with interest!

 

Town Hall, High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2QS   (  01273 471469   8  info@lewes-tc.gov.uk



 

  LEWES TOWN COUNCIL



 

 

Quality Parish QC-07-11-00822

 

Cinema project update

Lewes Community Cinema Project - Update

 

We refer to the Information the Council posted on its website on 7 March 2012 – 'Lewes Community Cinema Project – FACTS'.

 

We would like to clarify one aspect of this Information.  We wish to confirm that we did not intend to suggest that there was anything disreputable about Lewes Cinema Limited and we express our regret if there was anything we stated in the information which led anyone to form that view.  We have no reason to believe that Lewes Cinema Limited is not a fit and proper undertaking for the screening of films.

 

We also confirm that Lewes Cinema Limited does not operate outside Lewes.

 

Lewes Town Council

5th April 2013