Plans for large new Horsham housing estate move step closer

Developers Lovell Partnerships have submitted an outline planning application to Horsham District Council to build 206 houses on land at the former site of pharmaceutical company Novartis off Parsonage Road.

Agents Nexus Planning, in a statement to the council, say that the development will include vehicle access from Wimblehurst Road and will provide car and cycle parking, landscaping and ‘open space.’

The site was previously the headquarters of Novartis, formerly known as Ciba Geigy, who vacated the area in 2014 – and the site has been empty since then.

Planning permission for a ‘mixed-use’ development of new homes and businesses was granted in 2020 but proposals for business-use fell through when West Sussex County Council, which owns the land, said no companies were interested in moving there.

It has since been proposed to use the whole of the site for housing – eventually providing around 500 homes.

In a statement to Horsham District Council, Nexus Planning say: “The site is in a highly sustainable location and is brownfield land. It is exactly the type of site that planning policy at all levels promotes for the delivery of development, and particularly housing.

"This planning application would bring forward 206 new homes in Horsham.” It adds: “There is also a particularly acute need for new affordable homes, with a large housing waiting list. This planning permission would deliver at least a policy compliant – 35 per cent at the time of writing – provision of affordable units.

“This proposal represents a significant opportunity to bring back into use a previously developed and well-located site for much needed new homes, through the delivery of a well-designed, high-quality development.”

A separate planning application for more housing at the eastern part of the site is planned to also be submitted.

The Novartis site previously contained office buildings, workshops, research facilities, staff areas, a canteen, and extensive hard standing parking areas but all former buildings have been demolished except for two – a five-storey Art Deco structure and a more modern structure from the 1980s attached to it.

Nexus say that the new housing will consist of townhouses, residential terraces and apartment buildings, “that respect the setting” of the locally listed Art Deco building which is planned to be converted into apartments.

It is also planned to plant new trees at an existing central boulevard at the site. “Ecological zones, open green spaces and play areas will offer another range of activity and opportunities for residents and visitors,” say Nexus. A total of 252 parking spaces are also being proposed as part of the development.

Nexus adds: “The number of households on the council’s waiting list for affordable housing has increased by 57 per cent between 2014 and 2024, now standing at 756 households. This increase highlights the growing urgency for affordable housing to be provided in Horsham.”