Development of 81 Partridge Green homes refused again

Plans to build 81 homes in Partridge Green have been refused again.
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The outline application from Reside Developments Ltd, to build on land north of The Rosary, was turned down by Horsham District Council’s planning committee on Tuesday (February 15).

It had previously been refused in February 2021 on the grounds that it was in the countryside on a site not allocated for housing in the District Planning Framework.

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On top of that, no S106 legal agreement had been completed relating to the provision of affordable homes and footpath improvements.

Illustration of the proposed developmentIllustration of the proposed development
Illustration of the proposed development

Reside launched an appeal against that decision, which is still to be heard by the planning inspectorate.

With the council no longer able to demonstrate that it has a five-year supply of deliverable housing land – a fact that would stand against it during the appeal – officers submitted another reason for refusal.

This time it related to water neutrality.

In September, Natural England published a position statement on water neutrality, meaning applicants now have to show that their developments would not increase demand on water supplies.

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Horsham, which was identified by the Environment Agency, as being in an area of serious water stress, is supplied by Southern Water from its Sussex North Water Resource Zone.

Essentially, the fear is that the current rate of water abstraction – the process of taking water from surface or underground sources – is having an impact on protected sites in the Arun Valley. 

The committee was told that, as the appeal documents filed by Reside did not include a Water Neutrality Statement, it was ‘not possible to conclude with sufficient certainty’ that the development would not harm the integrity of those sites.

When asked by Philip Circus (West Chiltington, Thakeham & Ashington) if the council was adding the water neutrality requirement to all of its appeal cases, officers confirmed that two more were in the pipeline.

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The committee was told: “If water neutrality wasn’t a factor in the district right now, the recommendation would be not to defend the appeal.

“At the moment, water neutrality is the only issue that’s preventing development.”

To view the application in full, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/20/1697.

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