LETTER: New station will not be provided

In their glossy Autumn 2013 publicity leaflet, distributed to 20,000 households, Liberty wrote: ‘A new parkway station will be provided’ at their proposed development north of the A264.
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However, following a Freedom of Information request, a response this week from Network Rail categorically contradicts Liberty’s statement.

Network Rail is currently spending £4.5m lengthening and widening the platforms at Littlehaven station and will give consideration to a maximum of one new station on the line between Littlehaven and Crawley stations (and that subject to the closure of Faygate station).

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The site at Kilnwood Vale west of Bewbush is relatively isolated from Crawley town centre and there is a potential economic case for a train station at that location. Discussions between Network Rail and the developer at Kilnwood Vale are years ahead.

If at all, that is where a new train station would be allowed. A new station is subject to the approval by Network Rail, Southern Rail and finally the Department for Transport, though none of those would contribute towards the cost.

The process of determining a business case, compiling planning documents and consideration of an application would take at least a year from now.

That would be well after Horsham District Council has scheduled to produce its Preferred Strategy, including, or not, the green fields development north of Horsham.

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If Cllrs Ray Dawe, Claire Vickers, Helena Croft, Jim Rae and new chairman-elect Brian O’Connell get their way with the Liberty-led development then there will be serious road-traffic problems in north Horsham (especially along the A264, Rusper Road, Giblets Way, North Heath Lane and Pondtail Road) and congestion with people from the 2,500 houses and a proportion of the 2,500 new workers traveling via Littlehaven station.

To paraphrase Cllr Jim Rae: ‘a lose, lose, lose situation, for people using the A264 and for north Horsham residents in general’.

Cllr Liz Kitchen said: ‘They [the Cabinet] are hell bent on North Horsham’. Cllr Christian Mitchell said that North Horsham is being: ‘railroaded through’.

Both are clearly correct and the unprecedented removal of Cllr Christian Mitchell as chairman-elect shows Cllr Ray Dawe’s junta will stop at nothing, and not let anyone get in their way, to get their plan through – even deposing the council’s chairman-elect.

C. MORRIS

Tennyson Close, Horsham