Campaigners opposing plans for 3,000 homes west of Ifield announce intentions if go-ahead is given
Campaigners opposing plans for 3,000 homes west of Ifield intend to call for a judicial review if the application is given the go-ahead.
The Save West of Ifield group has been fighting for years to persuade Horsham District Council that the plans from Homes England should not go ahead.
A decision had been due at the beginning of the year but is now unlikely until at least September.
During a public meeting last week, group chair Fenella Maitland-Smith said that if efforts to see the plans dropped failed, the next step would be to prepare for a legal challenge via judicial review.
She told attendees that the group had had two ‘incredibly productive’ meetings with legal firms to discuss which of their arguments against the development were likely to carry the most legal weight.
A consultation into modifications to the district council ‘s Local Plan – in which West of Ifield is a proposed strategic allocation site – are currently under way. Once complete, all responses will be passed to the Inspector as part of his examination.
As well as urging people to comment on the planning application, the group has asked them to take part in the Local Plan consultation, in the hope that the site will be dropped.
The main concerns are: capacity at the Crawley sewage treatment works – and the lack of plans for expansion from Thames Water; flooding; the lack of social housing in the development; traffic along narrow roads such as Rusper Road; and whether or not the scheme is even financially viable.
Vice-chair Cathy Durrant said: “We actually think that we may now be into the home run. We think it could be the case that we may only have a few months more to go of this, so we need to have one more real big push at getting Horsham to listen to us.”
As such, Ms Maitland-Smith said the group wanted to delay the council’s decision until after the Local Plan examination – or at least until it had reached a ‘very advanced stage’.
This is likely to be around November.
To find out more about Save West of Ifield and to have your say on the planning application and Local Plan, log on to www.savewestofifield.co.uk .