Alternative Horsham local plan strategy put forward by Lib Dems

Horsham District Council sought the public’s views on a range of different options for strategic housing allocations this time last year.

The latest draft version of its local plan is expected to be published in the spring for another period of representation.

At the beginning of the year, Horsham’s Liberal Democrats submitted a proposal to the council’s chief executive for the local plan strategic sites which they would find acceptable. This excludes Rookwood and they say would still enable the council to meet a target of up to 1,200 homes a year.

Frances Haigh, Lib Dem group leader at HDC, said: “As it stands, the local plan is not convincing. We accept that there is a need for homes, but we need to be sure that we are building the right homes in the right place, and that our place-making will stand the test of time. There is still time to think again.”

She suggested the type of ‘visionary scheme being proposed by Councillor Chowen for Rookwood, is the type of scheme that should have been proposed for the Novartis or North of Horsham sites’.

They felt the Novartis site would have been a good opportunity for HDC and West Sussex County Council to work together to deliver both much needed affordable housing and specialist accommodation for people down-sizing or those living with disabilities.

While at North Horsham they believed the outline application included far too many larger homes and not nearly enough affordable housing to meet local need.

The Lib Dems are ‘not convinced’ Rookwood ‘should be in the frame for development at all’.

Ms Haigh added: “The council is determined to sell off the town’s assets such as the Drill Hall, the running track [at Broadbridge Heath] and Rookwood Golf Course. We wonder what will be next on the list - the Capitol perhaps?

“Budgetary pressures, in part due to Covid, and in part due to Conservative Government cuts to local authority funding, mean that HDC is having to constantly review its operations and has already had to reduce its staffing. The discretionary services that make Horsham one of the best places to live are being trimmed.”

Their view is a new town will be required to support the extra demand for homes required by the duty to cooperate, in a location with good road and rail connections, ‘overturning the demand for constant urban extensions to our towns without ever providing necessary updates to our infrastructure’.

However they believe that for the Mayfields’ scheme to go ahead it would first require government legislation to ‘unblock’ the site.

In the meantime the Lib Dems found ‘much to be commended’ about the developer proposals for Buck Barn and Adversane. However they suggest the latter could be difficult to deliver until the A29 is upgraded at Pulborough.

They also consider proposals for Billingshurst and Southwater acceptable, but suggest there could be some scope to reduce the immediate requirement at Southwater.

Meanwhile, development west of Ifield would be ‘in proximity to the employment centres at Crawley’, could be delivered at a faster rate, contain a higher proportion of affordable housing and unlock the Crawley western relief road.

if this proposal did go ahead, they requested a stronger policy to maintain a buffer between Horsham and Crawley to prevent the merger of the two towns.