A district plan is expected to cover a significant period of time – usually almost 20 years – and identify the council’s strategic approach to development in its area. The plan will set out the proposed level of development, being quite specific about how the planning number of houses will be achieved, and includes a range of policies which have guided the approach. Crucially, the plan is the key reference document for the council in considering planning applications. The current Mid Sussex District Plan covers the period 2014-2031; the plan being developed now is intended to cover the period 2021-2039.

The right for communities to have these plans was created by the Localism Act 2011. In essence, they are meant to act like the district plan but on a smaller scale, acting as a reference point for reviewing planning applications. But in practice a district plan is not simply an aggregate of neighbourhood plans; and any appeal will be heard against the frame provided by the district plan.

The Planning Inspectorate for England (sometimes referred to as PINS) is an executive agency of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of the United Kingdom Government with responsibility for making decisions and providing recommendations and advice on a range of land use planning-related issues across England. The Planning Inspectorate deals with planning appeals, nationally significant infrastructure projects, planning permission, examinations of Local Plans and other planning-related and specialist casework

This is the number of houses each council is expected to ensure are built in the period covered by their district plan. If they fail to plan up to that number, or if the planning inspector refuses to endorse their plan, then developers can usually expect to get planning permission for their schemes, whether they were in the plan or not. The planning number is given to a council, having been calculated according to a centrally determined formula. A common problem, and one faced in Mid Sussex, is that the calculation lacks flexibility: no account is taken, for example, of the large areas which are excluded because they fall in areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) where development is strictly controlled.

Regulation 18 is the stage of a planning process that engages with local residents and relevant organisations to identify how planning policy can be used positively to help address key issues within the local authority area.

The purpose of the Regulation 19 consultation is to provide an opportunity for representations to be made on the amendments to the local plan before it is examined by a planning inspector.

Scrutiny Committees were introduced to ensure a greater number of Councillors were involved in influencing Council policy and service improvements, and provided checks and balances on the decisions taken by the Cabinet.

Water neutrality is defined as development that takes place which does not increase the rate of water abstraction for drinking water supplies above existing levels. Water Neutrality has impacts for the Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plans and Development Management.