Rother Local Plan 2025-2042 Regulation 19 (pre-submission) version September 2026

I have been asked to review the Rother Local Plan 2025–2042 Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) on behalf of ESFRS as I am the fire safety manager for Hastings and Rother and have considered the proposal against the legislation to which we work.

I do have comment, but none that sit directly against any specific policy/priority and, therefore, felt it best to respond by email.

The proposal suggests that 8,671 new dwellings are to be built from 2025 to 2042 in a range of sites allocated across Rother, both in urban and (to a lesser degree) rural areas.

With this in mind my comments are:

ESFRS supports the plan subject to no impact on flood and wildfire risk. We would encourage any new builds to both comply with legislation and to consider installation of sprinklers.

In addition, I’d like to ask if the Plan needs to consider the potential impact on fire cover in new large areas of development, where there is a potential for resources to be inadequate.