Letter to the editor: Call for joint-council ecological emergency declaration at Ifield Brook

"Running on maximum...When I met with Thames Water, they said to me that they have plans for investing in that facility. I haven't seen those plans yet"

This is of deep concern for the town and especially Ifield and its c.10,000-year-old Brook. What is also of concern are the pollution and contamination incidents - the most recent being in Burgess Hill.

Recent publicly-available monitoring data showing sewer discharge into Ifield Brook raises serious and unavoidable questions about wastewater capacity and environmental resilience in this ancient Parish.

If discharges are occurring under current demand, it is legitimate to ask how additional large-scale housing can proceed without clear, enforceable evidence that the underlying infrastructure is capable of coping. Environmental protection cannot be deferred to future assurances.

Crawley Borough Council and Horsham District Council should now formally consider declaring a joint Ecological Emergency at Ifield Brook.

Such a declaration would would require:

1. An immediate audit of sewerage and wastewater treatment capacity affecting Ifield, Crawley and Horsham
2. Transparent reporting of discharge frequency and duration
3. A precautionary approach to major development where capacity is uncertain
4. Firm sequencing so that infrastructure upgrades are fully operational before occupation.
5. The National Planning Policy Framework is explicit that development must not result in unacceptable pollution, nor proceed where essential infrastructure cannot be delivered in a timely and sustainable manner.

Ifield Brook and its surrounding Local Green Space are not development assets. They are part of a functioning ecological corridor within the parish. Increased pressure without proven capacity risks compounding environmental harm.

Safeguarding Ifield means insisting that ecological limits are respected, not assumed.

Environmental resilience must come before expansion.

Richard W. Symonds

Independent Candidate for Ifield

Ifield Street, Ifield Village

Crawley, West Sussex