LETTER: No escaping drive for new homes

Councillors, whether Liberal Democrat or Conservative, have differing views to the proposals. Personally I consider the following to be important considerations.

Nobody wants a town with a bypass going through it instead of round it. Nobody wishes to lose pleasant and attractive countryside on the edge of the town. Nobody wants to risk Faygate or Littlehaven station closing, and people buying new homes west of Crawley do not want the hope of a new station to serve them dashed.

On the other hand town centres across England are dying; streets have empty premises. A town is less likely to lose its vitality if it grows. There are plans to have better and bigger shops in the town but that could lead to empty shops elsewhere. Many shops are empty now.

A larger town can support better facilities including improved public transport, earlier, later, more frequent buses and more routes.

Horsham town has a high proportion of its people commuting elsewhere to work. Many would prefer the chance to work locally that a new business park would offer.

More homes that are affordable to either rent or buy are needed for local people.

Some people would have been incensed if instead of proposing an even stronger town the council had proposed attracting investment away to elsewhere in the district.

Difficult factors for the public and councillors to weigh.

One things is however clear, the Government will require that around 600 new homes per year are built within the district of Horsham. There is no escaping that fact.

Many Conservative councillors representing parishes in the south will prefer to see houses built on the edge of Horsham town far away from their villages.

Many Conservative councillors representing Horsham town may see that opposing development north of the town will sit well with voters come district elections in May 2015.

However responsible councillors need to hold back from making their minds up until the consultation period is over.

The facts and the comments made during the period of consultation will need to be carefully and objectively reviewed.

Once a decision is made, where ever the houses are to be built, they must then do all they can to ensure that any carrots dangled before people are delivered and not whipped away.

This will require far greater and much closer joint working between the council and the developer than has happened with the sites west of Horsham.

It will require the council to have a much stronger negotiating team, greater expertise and an unshakeable determination to get what the community needs.

We must get houses that people can afford to buy or rent as well as social housing. These will not be provided if a developer just builds what they want to.

We must get more local jobs reducing the need to commute. Any new facilities promised must be provided and not evaporate.

Dr DAVID HOLMES

(LDem, Horsham Park) leader of the Lib Dems on Horsham District Council, North Street, Horsham