Important update · September 2026
Your action is required TODAY!
The Regulation 19 Draft Wealden Local Plan is coming, and on 18th September councillors vote on whether Ashdown Business Park Expansion, Owlsbury Farm and possibly Oakwood Park go into it. If you’ve objected before, that’s not the end of it – there’s a second deadline too.
Email your councillor before the vote.
516 acres, one vote!
On Friday 18th September 2026, Wealden District Councillors are due to consider the Proposed Submission Wealden Local Plan (Regulation 19) and vote on whether Ashdown Business Park Expansion, Owlsbury Farm, and possibly Oakwood Park, should be included in the new Local Plan.
First there’s the Ashdown Business Park Expansion – 77 acres. Then Owlsbury Farm – more than 1,500 homes across 413 acres. And now the filling in the sandwich: Oakwood Park, another 26 acres. Together, that’s a staggering 516 acres – this is no longer about individual developments, it’s development on a huge scale to the west of Uckfield.
Thousands of comments have already been submitted through the various consultations. The question now is: have our elected councillors listened?
- 516 acres of farmland could be lost – the whole of Uckfield, including Ridgewood, is only around 1,200 acres.
- They would create development on a huge scale west of the Uckfield bypass.
- The sites are remote from and poorly connected to Uckfield town centre and railway station, and would be separated from the town by a planned 50mph carriageway.
- The A22 already struggles with traffic – major additional development would put it under even greater pressure.
- Serious questions remain over water supply and sewage treatment capacity.
- There would be significant concerns about the impact on Ashdown Forest, Ancient Woodland, wildlife, biodiversity, landscape and the wider environment.
Putting these sites into the Local Plan does not change their geography. It does not bring them closer to Uckfield. And it does not solve the traffic, infrastructure or environmental problems.
Before 18th September
Email your local councillor today!
Use one of the templates below, or tell them how you feel in your own words – and copy in the Council Leaders and the Cabinet Member for Planning.
Even if you objected during the consultation, councillors need to hear it once more before they vote. It takes five minutes.
- Find your local councillor’s email address using Wealden’s councillor finder – here
- Please copy the following people into the email:
cllr.rachel.millward@wealden.gov.uk
cllr.james.partridge@wealden.gov.uk
cllr.ian.tysh@wealden.gov.uk
Council Leader – Rachel Millward
Deputy Leader – James Partridge
Cabinet Member for Planning – Ian Tysh - Pick one of the three templates below and drop in your name and address.
- Send it well before 18th September!
- Ask everyone in your household – especially anyone who hasn’t commented before – and any friends nearby to send their own.
Pick one, personalise it, send it
Three templates. Same message, different tone.
Copy the text, then fill in your name and address before sending it on to your councillor, copying in the email addresses above.
If you’re short on time (and your email provider supports it), you can just click on the ‘Email your councillor’ links below to open prefilled emails ready to send, all you need to do is add your councillors email and your name.
Email subject: Reg 19 Local Plan – 18th September
Template 1
Dear Councillor,
RE: LOCAL PLAN – 18th September
I am writing ahead of the Council meeting on 18th September to urge you to vote against the inclusion of Ashdown Business Park Expansion, Owlsbury Farm and Oakwood Park in the new Wealden Local Plan.
I have objected to these proposals previously, as have many other local residents. The strength of local opposition has been made very clear, yet despite this, these sites remain under consideration.
Taken together, the scale is enormous:
- Ashdown Business Park Expansion – 77 acres
- Owlsbury Farm – more than 1,500 homes across 413 acres
- Oakwood Park – a further 26 acres
That is 516 acres of farmland to the west of Uckfield lost for ever.
To put this into perspective, the whole of Uckfield today, including Ridgewood, covers approximately 1,200 acres.
These proposals should not be looked at individually. Together they would amount to the creation of a vast new area of development west of the Uckfield bypass, with major implications for local roads, water infrastructure, countryside and the character of the area.
Local people have taken the time to engage with the planning process and make their objections known. Those views should count.
Alliance candidates campaigned in the district and county elections on the basis of opposing inappropriate development in Wealden in their manifestos.
Please listen to the communities you represent and vote against including these three sites in the Local Plan on 18 September.
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Address / village]
Template 2
Dear Councillor,
RE: LOCAL PLAN – 18th September
I am asking you to please listen to the many local residents who have already expressed serious concerns about the scale of development being proposed to the west of Uckfield.
I have objected before, and I know I am far from alone. Local people have responded to consultations, written objections and explained why these proposals concern them. It is therefore extremely disappointing to see Ashdown Business Park Expansion, Owlsbury Farm and Oakwood Park still being considered for inclusion in the Local Plan.
When you put the three sites together, the scale becomes very clear.
Ashdown Business Park Expansion is 77 acres, Owlsbury Farm is 413 acres with proposals for more than 1,500 homes, and Oakwood Park adds another 26 acres.
Together, that is 516 acres of farmland and countryside lost west of Uckfield.
For comparison, the whole of Uckfield today, including Ridgewood, is approximately 1,200 acres.
This is not simply a house here or a business development there. It represents a fundamental change to this part of Wealden and would place enormous additional pressure on an area whose roads and infrastructure are already under strain.
Please do not disregard the views that local people have repeatedly expressed.
When you vote on 18 September, please vote against the inclusion of these three sites in the Local Plan.
Kind regards,
[Name]
[Address / village]
Template 3
Dear Councillor,
RE: LOCAL PLAN – 18th September
I have already objected to the development proposals west of Uckfield, along with many other local residents, and I am writing again because I am extremely concerned that these sites are still being considered for inclusion in the Local Plan.
Please look at their combined scale:
Ashdown Business Park Expansion – 77 acres
Owlsbury Farm – 413 acres and more than 1,500 homes
Oakwood Park – 26 acres
Total: 516 acres.
The whole of Uckfield today, including Ridgewood, covers approximately 1,200 acres.
How can development on this scale west of Uckfield be contemplated without fundamentally changing the area?
The local community has engaged with the planning process and has made its concerns clear. We now need our elected councillors to listen.
Please vote against including Ashdown Business Park Expansion, Owlsbury Farm and Oakwood Park in the Local Plan on 18th September.
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
[Address / village]