LETTER: Speaking out over mad housing plans

Crawley council, for example, has asked Horsham to take 3,075 of their houses (HDC planning framework website: Elizabeth Brigden, Pro sub no 2865). A lesson to deputy leader Cllr Croft (Roffey North) and to her council colleagues in Horsham town is that clearly one ‘reaps what one sows’. By writing to the councils in Crawley and Brighton and to other local authorities those houses have to go somewhere in our district.

The cabinet cabal have just never told us exactly were since they refused to hold any public meetings. We do know that none of the houses will ever go in the south of the district for as Cllr Peter Burgess has revealed the southern Tories seek to protect their own electoral wards in the ‘Deep South’. At least Cllr Burgess had the courage to vote against Cllr Vickers’ housing plan.

Cllrs Croft and Rae ignored their residents in Holbrook and Roffey by voting in support of Liberty’s plan for at least 2,500 houses in the Strategic Gap (note Liberty seek 4,000). Well we now know where all these extra houses offered to Crawley and Brighton will be going. There could be up to 10,000 houses, with a park and ride, in a ribbon from Warnham to Kingsfold (Horsham edition, 25.9.14).

The Inspector will only consider in November what is in front of him – so if he approves the 2,500-plus in North Horsham (current flawed plan), these 10,000 will be on top of the 2,500-plus.

Since the HDC plan does not include the Novartis site either, we must hope the Inspector sends the whole lot back to HDC and tells Cllrs Dawe, Vickers, Rae and Croft to think again.

So now we know why at the ‘secret court’ which ‘Cllrs Dawe and Helena Croft presided over’ in October 2013 (WSCT, March 2014) the cabinet tried to gag Cllr Christian Mitchell and stripped him of being chairman in punishment for speaking out against these mad housing plans.

Dr GEOFFREY RICHARDSON

Tennyson Close, Horsham