Developers to seek planning permission ‘soon’ for nearly 500 homes on Horsham farmland

Fairfax Properties wants to build 473 new houses on fields at Newhouse Farm, Old Crawley Road, Roffey.

The fields are bounded by Old Crawley Road, Sycamore Avenue, New Moorhead Drive and Beech Road playing fields.

Fairfax Properties has distributed what it calls ‘public consultation information leaflets’ to people living in the area.

The company says: “We have carried out detailed survey work to fully consider all matters including ecology, flooding, transport and landscape.

“We will submit our planning application early this year and firmly believe it creates a high quality, sensitively designed development of new homes that will benefit the local community and its residents.”

However a new social media site - a Facebook group called The Beeches Estate Residents (Roffey) - has now been set up by residents to coordinate concerns about the proposed development on the ‘beautiful fields nearby.’.

And the proposals come at a time when there is already public concern about the amount of new housing being proposed for the Horsham district.

Many fears have been raised that there is insufficient infrastructure in the area - too few GPs, hospitals and schools - to come with any more housebuilding.

The Government has set Horsham District Council a target of building 19,300 new homes over the next 20 years.

Initial work has already begun on building 2,750 new homes on land north of Horsham - on the opposite side of the A264 road to the new site earmarked at Newhouse Farm in Roffey.

See: Plans outlined for 473 new homes