Plans to build up to 90 homes in West Sussex village approved
Plans to build up to 90 homes in Bucks Green have been approved by Horsham District Council.
The outline application from Welbeck Strategic Land, for land north of Guildford Road, Rudgwick, was given the nod by the planning committee on Tuesday (April 28).
The council received more than 30 letters objecting to the plans, with safety on Guildford Road (A281) being top of the list of concerns.
Resident Robert Bradley – a Speedwatch volunteer – reported that ‘motorway acceptable speeds’ were being ‘recorded daily’ along the 30mph road, with the highest speed logged being 86mph.
He and others said that more than 10,000 ‘vehicle movements’ were made along the road each day, and stressed the need for traffic calming and ‘meaningful enforcement’, such as speed cameras.
The application included the installation of a puffin crossing close to the access of the site, opposite the village hall.
Other concerns raised covered the size of the development, which will more than double the number of homes in Bucks Green.
The council’s draft Local Plan, which is currently undergoing examination, includes an allocation of 60 homes for the site.
Sue Kornycky, of Rudgwick Parish Council, questioned why the boundary laid out in the application had been made larger than the area included in the Local Plan ‘without a good reason’ for doing so.
And Jay Mercer (Lib Dem, Roffey South) and Claire Vickers (Con, Southwater North) both had concerns about the access point, especially for drivers coming out of Loxwood Road onto Guildford – an already tricky junction.
But West Sussex Highways raised no objection to the application. This, coupled with the council’s inability to demonstrate that it has the required five-year supply of housing land, means something called the tilted balance comes into play. This favours sustainable development and means the council would be highly likely to lose on appeal should it refuse the application.
The plans were approved by 12 votes to zero with one abstention.
Some 40 per cent of the new homes will be classed as affordable.
To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/25/1269.