Nearly 7,000 new homes proposed across 24 Mid Sussex development sites

Approval for the consultation was given during a meeting of the full council on Wednesday (November 2), though almost half of the councillors present abstained from voting.

The District Plan was adopted in 2018 and included a commitment to carry out a review by 2023.

A draft version was published in January but then ‘paused’.

Leader Jonathan Ash-Edwards said that, since then, changes had been made to ‘reflect public opinion’ about the plan, including the use of more brownfield sites and fewer greenfield sites.

A total of 24 sites will be included in the consultation.

Mr Ash-Edwards said: “The consequences of not doing a review are significant – [it would] give our communities less control over what happens locally.

“It makes it harder to plan infrastructure and it doesn’t give us the ability we need to bring in more up-to-date policies on things such as the improved environmental standards that we all want to see.”

He told the meeting that there would be plenty of opportunity for the plan to ‘evolve’ as the review process continued – another consultation will be held next year.

This issue of allotments was raised by Robert Eggleston (Lib Dem, Burgess Hill – Meeds).

At an earlier scrutiny meeting he had asked for the number of homes planned for the Burgess Hill Station site – mainly land behind Chanctonbury Road – to be reduced from 300 to 150 in an effort to save some of the allotments there.

This time, he asked for the entire site to be removed from the plan until a ‘more robust’ proposal could be brought forward which would sit well with the council, residents and the planning inspector.

His amendment was rejected by 25 votes to 19 with two abstentions.

The 24 sites:

West of Burgess Hill – 1,400 homes South of Reeds Lane, Sayers Common – 2,000 homes (1,850 in the plan period to 2039) Crabbet Park, Old Hollow, Copthorne – 2,300 homes (1,500 in the plan period to 2039) Batchelors Farm, Keymer Road, Burgess Hill – 33 homes Land at Hillbrow, Janes Lane, Burgess Hill – 25 homes Land near Burgess Hill Station – 300 homes Land off West Hoathly Road, East Grinstead – 45 homes Land at Hurstwood Lane, Haywards Heath – 45 homes Land at the junction of Hurstwood Lane and Colwell Lane, Haywards Heath – 30 homes Land east of Borde Hill Lane, Haywards Heath – 60 homes Orchards Shopping Centre, Haywards Heath – 100 homes Land to west of Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down – 350 homes Hurst Farm, Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down – 37 homes Land to the rear of 2 Hurst Road, Hassocks – 25 homes Land west of Kemps, Hurstpierpoint – 90 homes The Paddocks, Lewes Road, Ashurst Wood – 8-12 homes Land at Foxhole Farm, Bolney – 200 homes Land at Chesapeke and Meadow View Reeds Lane, Sayers Common – 33 homes Land at Coombe Farm, London Road, Sayers Common – 210 homes Land to west of Kings Business Centre, Reeds Lane, Sayers Common – 100 homes Land south of LVS Hassocks, London Road, Sayers Common – 200 people Ham Lane Farm House, Ham Lane, Scaynes Hill – 30 homes Challoners, Cuckfield Road, Ansty – 37 homes Land to the west of Marwick Close, Bolney Road, Ansty – 45 homes.