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16 March 2011
Tom Crowley
Chief Executive
Horsham District Council
Park North
North Street
Horsham
RH12 1RL
Dear Mr Crowley
DRAFT INTERIM STATEMENT: MANAGING DEVELOPMENT IN
HORSHAM DISTRICT
I am writing on behalf of the Horsham Society in
response to the consultation on the Draft Interim
Statement .
The Horsham Society has been broadly supportive of the
Council’s approach to strategic planning and the need
to respond to the problems that have occurred in the
delivery of the adopted Core Strategy. There is
little doubt that once the present economic problems
are behind us the build out rate on the West of
Horsham site will pick up as there is no evidence that
the underlying demand for new homes has diminished.
We also believe that there will be a further
continuing demand for new homes in the period up to
2026 which will need to be addressed through the core
strategy review.
The immediate requirement to prove that there is a
five year housing land supply has to be addressed
otherwise it is inevitable that inappropriate
developments will be approved on appeal, probably
without the community benefit that should accrue in
such cases. We therefore support a planned approach
to further growth and the preparation of a policy to
accomplish this in the period up to the point at which
the revised core strategy can be expected to deliver
whatever number of new homes are then deemed to be
required.
Whilst the Horsham Society is primarily concerned with
Horsham town it is inevitable that the resolution of
strategic issues such as this will impact on the
town. We have made it clear that we believe that
Horsham has now grown to a size beyond which it would
lose its identity and character. We are conscious
that other communities feel the same which is why for
some years we have advocated the development of a new
town. However this will inevitably take many years to
deliver and will not help the present situation.
The adopted core strategy determined that the bulk of
new housing in the period up to 2018 would be provided
by the West of Horsham development but it clearly
signalled (para 3.9) that Southwater and Billingshurst
may need to accept further change depending on the
scale of future development that may be required. It
is therefore reasonable in the present circumstances,
and consistent with the adopted core strategy, that
the Interim Statement should seek to identify
opportunities for additional development in these
locations.
Turning to the draft, for the reasons outlined above
option one: unplanned growth would result in the worst
of all worlds and should be rejected.
Of the other two options, option three is preferable
as it would secure the situation until 2018, allowing
time for the review and adoption of a new core
strategy. It would also provide the maximum level of
community benefits.
The Society is concerned however about the
implications of the comment on page 10 of the Interim
Statement to the effect that if option 2 were to be
pursued Southwater and Billingshurst would also need
to be reconsidered as part of the work on the core
strategy review. This suggests that were option 3 to
be chosen further development in these settlements
would not be pursued in the period up to 2026. This
could have grave implications for Horsham as, in the
absence of other proposals, it would leave only the
two strategic site options north of the A264, the one
to the west of Ifield, and possibly a new town to meet
any further requirement for new homes up to 2026.
We would find this position unacceptable, not least
because we have always opposed any development north
of the A264 and this policy is currently explicit in
the adopted core strategy (para 3.8):
“ we wish to protect
the setting of the town, with its close relationship
to the adjoining countryside, to the east and south,
and to contain the built area within the A264 northern
bypass, in order to avoid issues of lack of
integration or ‘detachment’ from any existing
community”.
We therefore ask that this issue be clarified in the
final document to provide assurance that the remainder
of the core strategy review will be conducted in ways
which ensure that a sufficient number of viable
strategic options are considered so that development
north of the A264, or elsewhere immediately adjacent
to Horsham, does not become a fait accompli.
A copy goes to Cllr David Jenkins.
Yours sincerely
John Steele
Secretary, Planning Sub Committee |
