Developers need to be held to account during planning and construction to ensure that Public Rights of Way are prioritized, available and safe to use. Everything agreed at the planning stage must happen in practice.
Re-routeing Public Rights of Way onto estate roads and estate pathways is not acceptable.
Safe crossing over busy roads, and the provision of safe Walking, Wheeling and Cycling routes alongside busy roads, must always be provided – thus improving connectivity from one PRoW to the next.
Where a field or site boundary is crossed, gates should be installed rather than stiles, to maximize step-free access.
Provision of a protective width of four metres for PRoW should be required by all developers/applicants.
More resources are needed to protect and prioritize Rother´s PRoW.
PRoW are a precious asset, forming an integral part of Rother´s identity, ensuring connectivity, and safeguarding the Health and Wellbeing of all communities.

Where appropriate, it would be useful to have some pathways upgraded to enable cycling away from roads.

I will start off by commenting that it is a very detailed ambitious plan covering many aspects of life in Rother. I am not sure whether many parts of it will come to fruition due to the cost and I understand that Rother is putting aside a huge sum of money to repair our dreadful roads. The roads suffer from the amount of lorries and industrial vehicles which thunder through our towns and villages.

Due to the incompetence of the Council the Plan which should have been out on 2024 is now due in 2026.

Our local plan which was worked on for 3 years and is very detailed was supposed to take us to 2039. That has now been changed without consultation to 2028. Why?

My comments of course mainly relate to Peasmarsh where I live but I have made comments on other parts of the Plan

In section 1.9 Peasmarsh has been missed out as one of the Villages which have a Local Adopted Plan so it should state 8 Villages – not 7.

In Fig. 35 on Page 173 it does state that Peasmarsh has a Local Adopted Plan.

Our Village, Peasmarsh suffers from flooding, sewerage problems and electricity failures.

The warden assisted development in the Maltings was closed – people were relocated away and a large new development built on the site ( the only 3 storey development in Peasmarsh). The grassed area was built on and now properties in Farm Gardens below this development have flooding problems as no measure was put in place to cope with the problems caused by concreting this entire area. Also the roads were left in a poor state from all the heavy equipment and vehicles used to erect this development.

I agree with high standards for building (though no mention was made of fire safety).

The very old listed Church, at the highest point of the Village, suffered from flooding last year and this year so half of the Graves and the path were under water. Not much hope for the Village which is lower down!

No mention is made of the specific needs of children and the facilities required to enable them to do well in this area.

Farmland should be protected which will help food security and fits well with your Green to the Core and Live Well Locally emphasis in the Plan

Our farmers need all the help they can get and their produce and livestock means we can buy locally (less food and transport miles)

8.94 I agree that it is not appropriate to make provision for higher levels of care beds.

Mention was made in the Plan of Roads and Streets but none about Lanes – which you find in most Villages.

Public Rights of Way should be upheld though a proviso should be added regarding dogs being kept on leads on fields containing livestock. Again a sheep owned by our local farmer was savaged by a dog allowed to run loose.

I agree that Ancient Woodlands, SSSI’s should be protected and Dungeness which is a unique site in itself.

I agree that Habitats and Dark Skies should be protected. I hope we never have street lighting in Peasmarsh.

Brownfield sites and disused buildings should be identified and used for any new development NOT Greenfield sites

In principle I agree with ENVI – Coastal Water and Flood Risk Management and EC07.

Please see attached comments from Burwash Parish Council.

Please see attached document for the full submission from Westfield Parish Council.