Letter to the editor: Has Homes England become 'too big to fail'?
I am increasingly concerned that the scale and financial power of Homes England risks creating a perception that its West of Ifield planning application is inevitable – in effect, “too big to fail” [‘Test of integrity’, Crawley Observer, Jan 29]
To be clear, this is not an accusation and it is not a legal claim. Horsham District Council is perfectly entitled to refuse the application, and the Planning Inspectorate is entitled to uphold that refusal. There is no rule that government-backed schemes must succeed. The concern is deeper, and more serious. Homes England is not a conventional master-developer. It controls land, infrastructure funding and housing finance [eg National Housing Bank], and operates in direct alignment with national housing delivery targets. When irreversible steps or assumptions are made before planning decisions are concluded, a sense of inevitability can begin to take hold – even unconsciously. That is precisely what planning law is designed to guard against. Decisions must be evidence-led, procedurally neutral, and free from pressure or pre-determination – especially where the applicant is a powerful government agency. If public confidence is to be maintained, decision-makers must be seen to judge West of Ifield on its planning merits alone, not on scale, momentum or institutional weight. Perceived inevitability is not neutrality. And neutrality is the foundation of democratic planning. This concern is one primary reason why - but not the only reason why - a Heritage Emergency Declaration has been announced within this ancient Paris Richard W. Symonds MCIPD The Ifield Society Ifield Street, Ifield Village Crawley, West Sussex