Concerns as four Horsham district sites earmarked for major housing development

Horsham District Council has revealed the sites in its proposed ‘Local Plan’ just published.

It pinpoints land west of Ifield for 3,000 homes, land north west of Southwater for 1,000 homes, land east of Billingshurst for 650 houses and land north of Horsham – where 2,750 new homes already have planning approval – for a further 500 houses.

A controversial site at Buck Barn, where it had previously been suggested that 3,000 houses could be built, is not being included.

However, the Plan – which covers a period from now until 2040 – also proposes smaller developments in villages within the district.

But Horsham MP Jeremy Quin and South Downs MP Andrew Griffith, along with Horsham Green Group councillors, are raising concerns.

“Residents will be shocked by the proposed Plan,” said Jeremy Quin. “While quite rightly, and unsurprisingly, inappropriate sites such as Buck Barn and Adversane have been rejected, for many communities impacted by new building this Plan was not what they had been led to expect.

“I am also sceptical about infrastructure promises being made. Having fought hard to secure Bohunt Horsham I know how important it is to get all the facts right and I am all too aware of Plan promises – such as a new school at Wickhurst Green – which sound good on announcement but are not delivered in practice.”

He said water neutrality was also an issue to be taken into account in determining housebuilding numbers.

He said Building Regulations for new houses set maximum consumption rates of 125 litres of water a day per person but queried: “Why has Horsham District Council settled on 85 litres per person of mains water per day? This is equivalent to no more than one shower per day for each resident: what about drinking water, loo flushing, the washing machine?”

He added “The Liberal Democrats nationally are demanding a massive increase in house-building but Horsham should not be made the victim of these policies.”

MP Andrew Griffith said: “The local Members of Parliament were not consulted upon this plan in advance, so I am just working through the detail and will want to listen to the communities that I represent – many of whom have had their own neighbourhood plans held up by Horsham District Council.

“Nationally, the Lib Dems have the highest house-building target of any party and I don’t want to see them risk precious environments for nature like the Arun valley Wild Brooks because they are trying to cut corners on what a properly water-neutral home looks like.”

The Green Group of eight Horsham councillors say that their primary concern is the number of dwellings imposed on the district by central government.

A spokesperson said: “While recognising the housing crisis, these nationally imposed targets largely ignore the real need in Horsham district for significantly more social housing. In Horsham district many local families and key workers are unable to afford to own or to even rent a suitable home.”

They added that additional new builds will add to the stress on the natural world, via both water over-abstraction and foul water pollution “from a system that continues to treat the natural world as a convenient pumping and dumping ground, little realising that humans and the natural world are all part of a common ecosystem.”

Green Group leader Councillor Mike Croker said: “We believe Government-mandated building targets are unrealistic and don’t adequately address the needs of people in our district struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, whilst ignoring the damage being done to our natural environment as a result of over-development.”

Deputy Green co-leader Emma Beard added: “Any major development will impact our water-stressed district and its flora and fauna. We need to protect these habitats now more than ever.”

Green Group deputy co-Leader Victoria Finnegan said: “Traffic levels will rise, pollution will increase, and the wrong housing will get built whilst just developers profit. We find this a source of deep concern.”

But the Plan itself acknowledges: “The key challenge for the district is how it can continue to protect the environmental quality of the district alongside the pressures for development and growth whilst maintaining a high quality of life for its residents.

"It is recognised that the district must consider the extent to which it can continue to meet housing and other development needs for both its own population and those in districts and boroughs who have unmet development needs.

"The constraints of water neutrality in particular generate environmental and practical limits to the level of growth which can be accommodated

sustainably both now and in the future.”

As well as the four major sites earmarked for development, others include: Ashington, 75 homes; Barns Green, 95: Broadbridge Heath,133;

Cowfold, 70: Henfield, 55; Hornbrook Farm, Horsham, 100; Land at Mercer Road, Horsham, 300; Lower Beeding, 43; Partridge Green, 255; Pulborough, 25; Rudgwick and Bucks Green, 66; Rusper, 22; Small Dole, 40, Steyning, 265; Storrington and Sullington, 125; Thakeham, 65; Warnham, 20, and West Chiltington, 38.

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Horsham Councillor John Milne, cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said the council had managed to reduce the number of homes proposed for some of the sites and had taken out some of the areas that were ‘particularly unpopular.’

The Plan, which is three years overdue, will be considered at a meeting of the full council on December 11.

If all councillors are happy with its content, it will be put out for a six-week public consultation between January 19 and March 1 2024.