Developer comes back with fresh Henfield housing plans after losing appeal

A developer has submitted a fresh application for Henfield homes months after similar plans were refused at all.
Sandy Lane, Henfield, proposed development layoutSandy Lane, Henfield, proposed development layout
Sandy Lane, Henfield, proposed development layout

Horsham District Council refused planning permission for 42 new homes on a greenfield site north of Sandy Lane in early 2019 and this decision was confirmed by a planing inspector.

Developer Fairfax has now come back with another application for the site, this time for 35 homes.

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This move has angered both campaigners and Henfield Parish Council.

Malcolm Eastwood, chairman of the parish council, said: “Just six months after losing their appeal at an Inspection we find ourselves facing another battle to defend the extension of our built up area boundary at the same site.

“Henfield is certainly not anti-development, we have constructed more than 400 new homes during the last plan period and within our neighbourhood plan we have put forward sites which will deliver the housing supply numbers required by Horsham District Council in support of their local plan.

“It cannot be right that a developer who loses an appeal can come back again after such a short time period. This is unsettling for our local residents who have fought so hard to prove that this site is unsustainable once and now we have to go through the whole process again.”

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Phil Johnson, chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural Henfield, added: “The independent government inspector came down firmly against developing this site. Fairfax are burning our time and resources. Henfield is currently at an advanced stage in making its neighbourhood plan, and this site is not part of the plan. There is sufficient housing supply already provided for in the plan without destroying our countryside by building in areas where people do not want development. We will not allow Fairfax to trample on the rights of our community.”

But the developer has argued in the application that the layout has been designed to ‘reflect issues raised in the appeal’ with the other key alteration seeing the proposed scheme’s central roadway aligned to provide a long-distance view through the site to the South Downs.

The application’s design and access statement concludes: “This modest and sensitive proposal will bring forward much-needed new, relatively small sized family units on this edge of village location. The scheme has been carefully designed by all the professional disciplines to create an attractive layout that will sit well in Henfield village. The houses can be accommodated on the site with little impact on neighbours and the wider area.”

To comment on the application visit www.horsham.gov.uk/planning using code DC/20/0427.