Viva Lewes April 2015 Issue #103

feature: development
Reviving the Phoenix
The first of a series looking at what lies ahead for the North Street area
The rise and fall of
John Every’s Phoenix
Iron Works has been
well documented,
from its North Street
birth in 1832 to its
eventual demise in
1986. Even today, the
streets of Lewes bear
witness to the Every
legacy. Not just in
the old warehouse buildings by the river and
the road names of the industrial estate, but
marked on cast-iron drain covers, bollards,
gutters and coal holes across the town. By
2005, Angel Property had acquired much of
the former Phoenix site and was planning to
build a cinema, a car park, shops, bars and
over 800 new properties – including high-rise
flats – on what it was calling the ‘Phoenix
Quarter’. Revised plans later reduced the visual
impact of the development, but little progress
was ever seen because Angel Property went
into administration in 2009. Yet the property
crash that claimed Angel wasn’t bad news for
everyone. Angel’s reported £27 million investment
became a bargain buy for the Santon
Group and investment business MAS, which
apparently paid significantly less for the site in
2012. As well as submitting new plans for the
area, they’re proposing a new name: the ‘North
Street Quarter’. Since then, consultations have
been held, opinions have been gathered and
campaigns have been waged. Which brings us
to today. Or, more correctly, to the middle of
March, when Lewes District Council (LDC)
and Santon North Street Ltd jointly submitted
a planning application that included 416
houses, workshops, a
new health centre and
public spaces. Between
them, they own almost
all the 6.3 hectare
(15 acre) site; LDC is
responsible for around
30% of properties –
those to the west of
North Street – and
Santon owns the
remainder, with a few exceptions. This application
is now in the hands of the South Downs
National Park Authority, which will be holding
a public consultation before making a decision
later in the year. The redevelopment of the
bus station and the derelict Wenban-Smith
warehouses is part of Lewes District Council’s
joint core strategy but doesn’t form part of
these plans. A separate application by Waitrose,
which owns the land behind its supermarket, is
expected by the end of 2015. Meanwhile Lewes
Phoenix Rising Ltd, a community development
company set up last year, is raising £20,000 to
submit its own plan for 3.5 acres of the site.
Although it doesn’t own the land, it wants to
propose “an exemplary scheme” to be considered
alongside the Santon/LDC submission.
Instead of demolishing all the old warehouses,
it’s suggesting 48 rental homes along with work
and social enterprise space within renovated
Phoenix Ironworks buildings.
In the next few months, we’ll take a closer look at
the planned North Street Quarter development
and alternatives being proposed. So far we’ve
spent time with Lewes District Council and
Santon (more next month) and look forward to
talking to other interested parties. Mark Bridge
93