Figure 12 summarises the distribution of the total housing requirement for the rural areas. Whilst we support the logic of distributing numbers according to village size and development potential we do not agree with the suggestion of a range of housing for these villages. Nor do we support the lowering of the original target derived from the SEP figures. We are concerned that the Council's approach to housing targets is fundamentally flawed in that it plans for underprovision. Given the Government's emerging policy in the NPPF we have serious misgivings about the Council's ability to deliver sustainable development given this overt plan for under-provision. In rural villages access to affordable housing and a good range of services is essential to maintain vitality and viability. A restriction on housing growth in villages will ultimately undermine the health of individual villages and will significantly inhibit the likelihood of other forms of development (such as employment) coming forward.



In the case of Sedlescombe my client's site has the potential to deliver more housing numbers than is stated in Figure 12. This will allow for the provision of a much-needed replacement pre-school facility as well as enhanced primary school facilities, employment uses and public open space. These non-residential uses will not be delivered by a smaller scheme and therefore the benefits of these uses for the village will be lost. Whilst we have not evaluated the development potential of all other villages it is clear from Sedlescombe that the housing numbers set out in Figure 12 will ultimately frustrate the Council's intention (as stated in the preamble to policy RA1) to maintain the vitality and viability of this particular rural settlement.

We therefore consider that the Council's approach to housing delivery in the case of Sedlescombe is ineffective and is therefore unsound. To remedy this we would like to see the housing targets for all villages set to the higher level. In the case of Sedlescombe we would like to see the housing target increased to at least 60 or that reference to the figures being minimum added.