Letter to the editor: 'Heritage emergency' declaration within the ancient parish West of Ifield
Declaration of a Heritage Emergency within the ancient Parish-West of Ifield has been announced, following the important precedent set this month by Stoke-on-Trent, which has become the first place in the UK to formally declare a Heritage Emergency ['Warning bells west of Ifield', Crawley Observer, Jan 26]
Stoke-on-Trent’s declaration recognises a simple but urgent truth: once heritage is lost, it is lost forever. The city has acknowledged that historic buildings, landscapes and cultural assets are not a luxury, but a public good — essential to identity, continuity, wellbeing and long-term economic resilience.
West of Ifield now faces a comparable moment of risk.
The Ancient Parish of Ifield is one of the oldest continuously inhabited landscapes in West Sussex, with deep archaeological, ecological, environmental and historic significance. Its historic field patterns, waterways, medieval church setting, listed buildings, and surviving rural character form a coherent heritage landscape — not isolated fragments. Yet this landscape is now under acute pressure from a large-scale speculative development masterplan that risk irreversible harm before democratic processes have properly concluded.
This is precisely the type of situation for which a heritage emergency framework exists.
Declaring a Heritage Emergency for West of Ifield would:
• acknowledge that heritage assets — including landscape, setting and archaeology — are under immediate threat
• require heritage impact to be assessed cumulatively, not piecemeal
• elevate heritage considerations to the same level as housing numbers and infrastructure delivery
• support heritage-led alternatives that protect place while meeting genuine community needs
• signal that the protection of ancient parish landscapes is a matter of public interest, not obstructionism
A heritage emergency declaration is not anti-development. It is pro-responsibility. It says: slow down, assess properly, and do not destroy what cannot be replaced.
Stoke-on-Trent has shown leadership by naming the problem honestly. West of Ifield deserves the same seriousness of approach before irrevocable decisions are made.
If we fail to act now, future generations will rightly ask why an ancient parish was sacrificed without even the courtesy of calling the danger by its proper name.
On Thursday February 26th, a livestreamed exploratory meeting will take place between the Planning Inspector and Horsham District Council - as part of the Horsham Local Plan examination.
That meeting matters.
Richard W. Symonds MCIPD
The Ifield Society
Ifield Street, Ifield Village
Crawley, West Sussex