Mid Sussex District Council is consulting on its draft District Plan, along with a draft Sustainability Appraisal and draft Habitat Regulation Assessment. The role of the District Plan is to say broadly what, where, when and how development will take place in Mid Sussex over the next 17 years. These documents can be viewed online.

Whilst the overall strategy of the Plan has not changed from the 2013 District Plan, we want to give residents and other interested parties an opportunity to comment on the updated wording of the text and policies, some of which have changed significantly since our last public engagement. These changes have been as a result of responses received, discussions with the professional and statutory bodies including the Planning Inspectorate and Department for Communities and Local Government, cooperation with other local authorities and changes in guidance and national policy.

The draft District Plan does not include a housing number, although it does include policies which allocate land at Burgess Hill for development. The housing number will be set once all of the technical work on housing need and capacity has been undertaken and discussions with our neighbouring authorities have concluded. There will be an opportunity to make comments on the housing number when the Plan is published in May 2015.

Consultation starts 21st November 2014 for 8 weeks with the consultation documents available online from that date. Consultation closes midnight 16th January 2015.

We would like to hear from you and would welcome your views. Comments can be submitted online, by email, or by post (Planning Policy and Economic Development, Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1SS).

All comments received will be public information. More information can be found at www.midsussex.gov.uk/districtplan or by telephone on 01444 477053.