Request for delay to Horsham local plan review

The council’s local plan will be out of date in November, leaving it with little protection against unwanted planning applications.

On Monday it will reach the end of a six-week public consultation period and was due to be prepared over the summer for submission to the government’s inspectors.

Claire Vickers, cabinet member for planning and development, said: “In the very changed circumstances we find ourselves in, I think it is vital to take the action of trying to get this Local Plan process delayed.  

“Ray Dawe, leader of the council, has written to the Secretary of State setting out the potential impacts of Covid-19 on the council and on our Local Plan preparation, and is requesting that the requirements for Local Plan timetable are reviewed.

“I very much hope that the government will understand our position on this matter and how difficult it is in these very challenging times to continue exactly as before.”

Between now and 2036, the district must build a total of 17,370 new homes – 965 per year – as well as taking on hundreds that neighbours such as Crawley do not have the space to build.

This adds up to 1,200-1,400 homes per year – a figures councillors have described as ‘huge and unprecedented’.

As well as the West of Ifield proposals, the Local Plan identifies nine major housing sites and 22 smaller sites – though no decisions have been made on any of them.

News of the council’s appeal was welcomed by Richard Symonds, of The Ifield Society, who has been calling for the Local Plan to be delayed.

Mr Symonds said: “A little bit of sanity at last?

“We shall see soon enough by the government’s response to Horsham District Council’s sane request.”

When asked whether the consultation into the West of Ifield proposals could be put on hold, Ken Glendinning, project director at Homes England, said: “We are looking at the opportunities for increasing our online engagement with members of the public since we do not know when we will be in a position to hold any public meetings.

“This will keep local people informed of the outcomes of the consultation we undertook in January.

“Over the next few weeks we will assess how the current situation may impact on the planning process, but we are not yet in a position to predict what might happen.”

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