LETTER: Misery lies ahead for residents

1. This is blatant closure of the strategic gap which currently separates Horsham and Crawley and brings the concept of ‘Crawsham’ ever closer.

2. The concreting over of beautiful greenbelt land which is the first real undeveloped area of land from London when travelling on the train.

3. Children living in North Horsham will lose their eligibility to join the excellent Millais and Forest schools and will instead be forced to attend an untried and untested (possibly even dreaded ‘Free School’) educational establishment, putting at risk their education and therefore their futures.

4. Travel from Littlehaven will be blighted as it will not support fast services to London.

Instead I will have to drive to Horsham where there is no parking, or drive to the new station where I will be forced to pay astronomical fees and probably can’t park anyway because I work shifts and will arrive after the spaces are taken.

This also adds to pollution as I currently walk to the station.

5. The additional pressure on our town’s infrastructure, which has yet to feel the weight of the current two new developments near Broadbridge Heath, will not be able to cope.

No parking, packed town centre, pressure on emergency services, not enough health-care provision, not enough leisure services and numerous other pressures will cause misery amongst residents.

6. There will be a lack of community within the new development as no community services will be provided other than a supermarket.

7. Additional pollution and congestion on the roads from the 5,000 or so extra cars that will necessarily come with the planned initial 2,500 homes.

Horsham District Council’s handling of this situation is nothing short of scandalous. The legacy for our children looks grim as the council curtail to pressure from central government for unsustainable economic growth and pressure from an American development company looking to make a quick buck at all of our expense.

I have written to all 44 councillors objecting to this development and so should anybody who has an opinion on this proposal.

We can’t afford to rest on our laurels and expect someone else to do it otherwise the historical market town of Horsham will cease to be the town we are so proud of.

This plan will be passed in September/early October unless we, the residents or Horsham, act to stop it by making our feelings known.

The email addresses of all 44 councillors can be found at http://www.horsham.gov.uk/1632.aspx

Make your feelings known!

DAVID SHIPTON

Downsview Road, Horsham