THE first Local Plan to cover the entire South Downs National Park (SDNPA) has been submitted to the Government.

The plan, which attracted 2,520 responses, will have implications for development in the national park, which was first designated back in April 2011.

Fernhurst is allocated for the provision of 220 houses at four sites following the latest strategic housing land availability assessment.

The are the Old Glebe former garage, subject to parking being relocated, Syngenta, Hurstfold Farm and Fernhurst Glebe.

But a potential site west of Haslemere Road was ruled out as unsuitable.

Fernhurst Neighbpourhood Plan supports the use of Syngenta, mixed housing and commercial but considers housing development should be restricted to around 200 dwellings with a range of bedroom sizes and with a significant proportion of affordable homes.

The needs of both younger and older Fernhurst residents were taken into account by the neighbourhood plan, together with the requirement to integrate any Syngenta development with the existing Fernhurst settlement.

Announcing the submission of the SDNPA plan, chairman Margaret Paren, said: “The South Downs Local Plan puts our nationally important landscapes first and will ensure they sit at the heart of every planning decision we make.

“Putting the landscape first means making sure we get the right growth in the right places. This will both protect our landscapes and allow our communities to flourish, providing better places to live and work for the 112,000 people who call the South Downs National Park home.”

The plan has been developed with SDNPA communities and includes around 50 Neighbourhood Plans developed by South Downs communities, and provides local development management policies and allocate land for development.

When adopted, its 96 policies will replace more than 1,000 different policies from 12 different local authorities currently in place, providing a clear framework for planning in the National Park going forward.

Inspector Brian Sims has been appointed to conduct the examination to determine whether the South Downs Local Plan is sound.

The inspector will set questions to be answered by the authority and other interested parties on the plan.

All outstanding queries will be dealt with at public hearings, which are expected to be held at the South Downs Centre in Midhurst. The date will be confirmed by the inspector in due course.

All updates on the Local Plan will be published on SDNPA Examination page including times and dates for public hearings.

Disappointment was been voiced by Midhurst town councillors over the SDNPA’s “failure” to address employment concerns in the town.

Midhurst residents objected that despite repeated pleas to include employment uses in redevelopment of the brickworks, the site was not specified in the plan but was earmarked for ‘complementary’ uses for the area.

At the May meeting of the town council’s planning committee, when the plan was discussed, members voiced concern about the “general lack of details and commitment to employment policies in the urban areas of the park in general – and to the brickworks site in particular”.

Planning chairman Gordon McAra said: “The park provided a precis of all the comments made in the Midhurst Town Council submission but it did not mention a word about employment, although about 60 per cent of our comments were about employment.

“This is disappointing, particularly as we have continued to raise the issue with them at every opportunity.”

Councillor Mark Whittaker said: “We certainly support the national park but they must remember that, unlike other parks, they have a substantial population and must engage with these communities.”

•See www.southdowns.gov.uk for more details about the Local Plan.