Decision due on 22 homes off Sandygate Lane in Lower Beeding near Horsham

The application, for land in Sandygate Lane, will be discussed during a meeting of the planning committee on Tuesday (January 10).

If given the nod, the plans from Devine Homes will see a mixture of two flats, two bungalows and 18 houses built. Eight will be classed as affordable.

The council has received 37 letters of objection from residents, while Lower Beeding Parish Council has also objected, citing delays to its Neighbourhood Plan due to ongoing water neutrality work.

The latter objection was supported by Nuthurst Parish Council, with a spokesman saying there was ‘insufficient information regarding the location of where the foul and surface water will be processed’.

They added: “If the Southern Water facilities in Monks Gate are intended to be utilised, the parish council would object to this proposal.

“The facilities are already at maximum capacity, with regular flooding – any additional housing would worsen the present situation.”

Officers felt the benefits of the application – which includes improved crossing facilities on the B2110 – would outweigh the fact that the site was not allocated for development in the Horsham District Planning Framework.

On top of this, the council does not have a five-year supply of housing land and the Sandygate Lane site has been selected for housing allocation in the emerging Lower Beeding Neighbourhood Plan.

As such, officers have recommended the plans be approved.

To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/22/0708.