It is understood that the Government announcement regarding the funding of the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road Scheme is imminent (see Section 9 of the Housing Provision Background Paper). The building of this road is fundamental to the Council's proposed spatial strategy. In light of this, it would have been more appropriate to suspend the PSCS until the future of the road scheme is known. As it stands, the draft plan is in limbo and Policy OSS2 introduces a significant degree of uncertainty regarding the future of the spatial strategy in the District.

If the road scheme were to be shelved or further delayed, then other alternatives should be considered for growth and development in the District if future housing needs are to be met, particularly in relation to affordable housing as part of private housing schemes (i.e. 'market led' affordable housing). If the road scheme were to be shelved, then more detailed investigation (based on the SHLAA) needs to be undertaken to consider the potential of distributing housing development to other locations such as additional small scale housing extensions at Battle and within such settlements as Burwash (which has a good range of local facilities), Netherfield (as a satellite settlement to Battle) and Westfield (as a satellite settlement to Hastings).

To simply reduce the scale of housing development in Bexhill if the road scheme were not to go ahead would have serious consequences for economic and housing development in the District and therefore, the potential impact of this upon the spatial strategy should be reassessed. Alternatively, the PSCS examination should be suspended until the outcome of the Government's spending review is known.