More housing could be on the way for South Downs village

Developers Cygnature Homes are seeking planning permission from Horsham District Council to build five detached properties in Storrington Road, Thakeham.

A previous application for the development on horticultural land to the west of South Hill Farmhouse in Storrington Road was turned down by the council. It maintained that the site was outside of the defined built-up area boundary, and on a site not allocated for housing. They also said the proposals had not been shown to be ‘water neutral.’

But in their new application, agents for Cygnature Homes say that while the site is outside of the boundary, it lies close to a defined built up area immediately to the east. “This demonstrates that the site is closely linked to existing built form and is not isolated in the countryside,” they say.

The former Thakeham Mushrooms site – where developers want to build 247 new homes – is around 150m to the south of the site. Planners have rejected proposals for the 247 homes there but an appeal has been lodged against the decision.

Meanwhile, in their new application, Cygnature Homes say that the five properties they want to build off Storrington Road would be five-bedroom detached houses with ‘generously sized’ gardens.

Their agents, SLR Consulting, in a statement to the council say: “Given the rural nature of the area, it is not considered an appropriate location for smaller units. It is considered that

the proposed mix is suitable both in design terms and in achieving efficient use of the site.

"The applicant is committed to ensuring that the proposed scale and density of the development respects the surrounding locality.”

They say that it is proposed to ensure water neutrality by using ‘water credits’ from water saving measures implemented at South Lodge Hotel in Lower Beeding which would be used to offset the mains water use in the five new homes.

They say that the installation of a borehole at the hotel – which has been drilled into an aquifer not connected to Hardham, or to the River Arun catchment – has enabled 19,000 litres/day to be removed form the mains supply and utilised as credits against other development sites.

“This scheme has already been assessed by Natural England and approved,” they add.