'Astonishment' as Government inspector chucks out Horsham's Local Plan

The inspector – Mr Luke Fleming – has told the council that he won’t allow the plan to proceed and has recommended its withdrawal.

He says that the plan should provide significantly more houses – despite the views of many who maintain that the council’s proposed housing numbers are already too high.

A council spokesperson said: “The council strongly disagrees with the Inspector’s conclusions,’ and adds: “The council is astonished that the Inspector could reach such a conclusion without allowing neighbouring authorities to speak at the examination hearings and questioning them directly as the Inspectors examining our neighbours’ plans have done.

"Instead, the Inspector focused his attention on the views of the development industry representatives that were present at the hearing sessions.”

The Inspector’s announcement comes after he paused the hearings back in mid-December last year.

The council spokesperson said: “Horsham district is an area of acute water stress and since 2021 delivery of new housing has been severely restricted by the legal requirement for all new developments to be ‘water neutral’ to prevent further damage to the internationally important Pulborough Brooks wildlife sites.

“To help deliver water neutral development, Horsham has led on developing the innovative Sussex North Offsetting Water Strategy, known as the SNOWS scheme. This manages the water available for new plan-led developments through improved water efficiency and offsetting.

"This approach to water neutrality, has already been accepted by the Planning Inspectors for Chichester and Crawley’s Local Plans.

“Despite this, Mr Fleming has written to the council saying that he does not accept the council’s strategy and considers we should have done even more to find water solutions that would significantly increase the number of homes delivered in the district.

"Mr Fleming feels the council should have done more to provide housing for Crawley’s unmet housing need under our legal ‘Duty to Cooperate’ obligation.

“The council strongly disagrees with the Inspector’s conclusions, as it has worked consistently and effectively with all organisations, including adjoining authorities, during preparation of its plan and particularly on the issue of water neutrality.”

The spokesperson added: “In addition, the council was advised by expert bodies that delivery of the kind of large-scale private water schemes that the Inspector referred to is extremely challenging and highly uncertain and so provides no guarantee to deliver the homes being promoted by the development industry, which is the key requirement of any local plan. Again, the Inspector did not invite the key organisations to his hearing sessions to better understand these issues.”

The council has written a letter of complaint to the Planning Inspectorate.

Councillor Ruth Fletcher, cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said: “This is a hugely disappointing decision. The Local Plan has been the top priority for the council because after the repeated delays under the previous administration, Horsham’s existing Local Plan had fallen out of date and we are now seeing the result with increasing numbers of unwelcome, speculative developments.

"A Local Plan is the best way to deliver the housing we need in the most sustainable locations along with higher eco-build standards, supporting infrastructure and community facilities.

“The plan has been prepared based on good evidence; the ouncil has taken expert advice including from the Planning Inspectorate, on its actions throughout the plan preparation process and no substantive concerns were raised at any point. We firmly believe we have acted in the best interests of the cistrict and in the most professional way in trying to meet the Government’s housing targets.

“It's clear from the hearings and subsequent questions that the Inspector has struggled to understand the unique challenges posed by water neutrality. These were issues he should have clarified before the hearings commenced.

“The Government has made it clear that they want to see every local authority with a local plan in place, but the Inspector’s decision that the ‘Duty to Cooperate’ has not been met and his recommendation to withdraw the Local Plan will leave us fighting against uncontrolled speculative developments with one hand tied behind our backs."

Cpouncil leader Martin Boffey, added: “This is a maverick decision that helps no one. Bearing in mind the need for the council to carry out local government reorganisation at the same time, there is no realistic prospect of doing what’s been asked of us.

“This council has worked hard for years to produce an evidence-based plan that delivers housing, jobs and infrastructure investment, while protecting the environment. It is wrong for this to be halted by a flawed decision from a single individual.

“This council has always sought to work cooperatively with the Government and Planning Inspectorate but there are aspects of the Inspector’s conclusions we cannot accept. We are therefore communicating urgently with Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, for assistance in finding a way forward.”