Environmentalists’ ‘alarm’ over plans for 3,500 houses on fields at Buck Barn

A total of 34 leaders of top environmental organisations and ecologists have penned their concerns over the proposed development in a letter to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick

They say that if the development goes ahead it would undermine the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

The plan singled out the Knepp Estate at West Grinstead as “a shining example of landscape-scale nature restoration – a pioneering ‘rewilding’ project that is inspiring others to act on the government’s ambition to be the first generation in history to leave nature in a better place than we found it.”

The Knepp Estate, which adjoins the proposed housing site, has already expressed concerns that the development would endanger its world-renowned rewilding project and would cut off ‘wildlife corridors.’

In the letter, the environmentalists say: “Knepp is also under consideration to become a National Nature Reserve and, potentially, the beating heart of one of Natural England’s new Nature Recovery Areas across the wider region.

“It is alarming, therefore, to learn that a site allocated for 3,500 houses on the very border of the Knepp rewilding project will split the potential Nature Recovery Area in two and prevent this connectivity from happening.”

They add: “We acknowledge that more homes need to be built in order to meet the housing requirements. But the decision to allocate this site, known as Buck Barn, will be irreversible.

“Once the bricks are in and the concrete laid, the potential for any meaningful connectivity for wildlife to neighbouring sites and improvement for natural systems will be gone.

“Nature needs to be considered as infrastructure, in the same way as roads, railways and housing, because of all the societal benefits it provides.”

They also point out that poeple have found a new connection with nature during the pandemic.

“Rewilding, wildlife corridors and other new nature restoration initiatives recently launched by government offer the prospect of a new and hopeful future of long-term, sustainable land regeneration with the potential to lift the national mood as we recover ourselves and the economy.

“Nature is in crisis. We do not want the planning system to inflict additional damage just at the point when, as a nation, we are mobilising to address the climate and nature emergency.”

The letter is signed by the leaders of a number of major organisations including The Wildlife Trusts, National Trust, British Trust for Ornithology, Fauna and Flora International, the RSPB - and more - along with a number of professors from leading universities.