Prey to whim of developers

In your letters column last week Dr Smith of CPRE Horsham rode to the defence of the council and suggested that HDC needed much more than the year allowed by the Government to finalise the new District Plan.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Apr 2013, 16:49 BST

Whilst I understand that he feels he has to slavishly follow the CPRE national line it simply does not wash in the case of Horsham.

HDC was quick off the mark in revising its core strategy and much of the necessary preliminary work, including independent studies, was completed in 2011.

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In February 2012 the council went out to consultation on housing numbers. And then everything stalled. Had the momentum been maintained there would have been ample time for the council to have completed its Plan before the deadline at the end of last month.

Since autumn last year HDC’s planning policy has been in a state of paralysis due to the crass way in which the leadership tried, and failed, to impose a top down set of solutions unacceptable to its own councillors, let alone the electorate.

As a result we are now prey to the whim of any developer who decides to put in an application for housing almost anywhere in the district.

JOHN STEELE

on behalf of Horsham Society, Old Denne Gardens, Horsham

Related topics:HDCCPREGovernment