LOCAL PLANNING
SA014 (Finches Lane)
We are pleased to inform you that a large section, approximately 2/3rds, of the ‘developable area’ north of Finches Lane (SA 014) has now been purchased by a local resident. This resident has bought the land in order to prevent development of this section of the plot. (i.e. the woodland and some of the adjacent grassland)
The area of the original plot that has not been sold is adjacent to Mill Road. However, this still has a large number of Tree Preservation Orders on fairly mature trees in an 8 metre wide boundary and one individual TPO, the silver birch, in the middle of the proposed entrance on Mill Road.
There is still a concern about this remaining area of land although it is with thanks to the new owner of the wood that the threat of any larger scale development has now been removed.
Adversane/North Heath
This development (actually known to the village following the public meeting as the 'West Chiltington' development) has been DROPPED by HDC. Well done to all who took the time to attend the meeting and to respond in significant numbers, which left the HDC representatives in NO DOUBT about how the village felt. My thanks to the PC for passing this important result on to me quickly.
Here is the text I have received
IN AUTUMN last year, Horsham District Council invited comments on the Core Strategy Review Consultation document from people who had an interest in the District’s future. It set out some of the key issues in planning the future of the District and put forward, for consultation, nine potential options for how the development requirements could be met.
Around 2400 comments were received on the issues raised in the document from a mixture of individuals and organisations. Over 1,500 of these related to the potential strategic development site options.
The Council has now reviewed and considered carefully all the comments received, as well as preparing further technical work to assist and inform the preparation of the proposed Preferred Strategy document, to be published in the summer, for further consultation.
As part of this process of consultation and technical work, it has been decided that some of the development site options should be excluded from further investigations because their locations meant it would be harder to create cohesive communities with sufficient services to meet the needs of future residents.
Instead, attention will be focussed on a ‘short list’ of the site options to ascertain from the further work whether they are appropriate and deliverable for inclusion in the preferred strategy. Of the nine original site options, the Council will not now proceed with further work on sites Faygate, Chesworth Farm (South Horsham), Adversane/North Heath and Pulborough as potential strategic development locations in the period to 2026. It will now focus its attention on sites West of Ifield, North Horsham, West of Southwater, and East of Billingshurst, with parallel feasibility work taking place on a possible new market town in the Gatwick Sub-Region, jointly with neighbouring authorities.
Cllr David Jenkins, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning at Horsham District Council, said:
“We indicated our commitment to a thorough public debate on the issues and options available to us at the early stages in the process. As a result of the response to the Consultation Document and our further assessments we have been able to refine our initial assessment process and indicate those options on which we now need to concentrate our attention. I am convinced that this is the appropriate way forward and, although not everyone will be happy with the position reached, it may help to allay the fears of some residents in those areas where we are not now looking to proceed with further studies.”
Well done West Chiltington!
Now to the other issues!
It has been suggested to me that the whole planned development may have been a smokescreen or 'loss leader', and in its 'sacrifice', have softened us up for the next onslaught in the village. Beware, as they say, of 'Greeks bearing gifts' (probably an unlikely event right now....) but we need to be on our guard for changes in village 'status' and those building plots that were earmarked 'just in case' - remember them? Why not talk about this on the Forum? The perfect place to air your views.
Further good news - LaybrookThe County have announced a major review of waste management in the district. The 'Minerals and Waste Core Strategy' plan is to be reconsidered. We wait to hear the implications for Laybrook
Cory have dropped their application for the landfill. You can read their letter here. I would advise, however, a careful look at the document and in particular at Cory's Malcom Ward's comment half-way down page 2 (his last sentance) regarding 'West Sussex' - "Shields up, Mr Sulu" as they said in Star Trek, and to continue with the (adjusted) proverb - "This ain't over 'til the fat lady sings".
Both the Gazette and County Times this week carry similar cautions.
FEEDBACK ON THE PLANNING ISSUES
Moving on from the impressive turn-out at the packed Public Meeting in the Village Hall, at which I think it fair to say that not one of our local politicians was left in any doubt about the way West Chiltington feels about the issues, a summary of the progress of the Core Strategy review.
Horsham District Council have now processed the 2400 or so responses, and the Parish Council website now carries two pages (in PDF format), one summarising the reviews and the other containing appendices summarising the responses. They can be viewed at Review Summary and Response Summary.
Further consultation should have been made in March when the preferred options were to be made public. HDC are still working on this. It is not yet clear how this consultation will take place. Other sites in the parish may have been put forward and appear on the Strategic Housing Land Assessment Availability map (SHLAA). There are unconfirmed indications that the review of Village Categories may now not be until July.
Please remember that more people attending the PC meetings can only help
Remember, the recently revamped Parish Council website now has information on all the issues and links to documents at their new 'Framework' page. There is also now a page on the HDC website covering the issue.
I would also direct you to the local 'blog' at hatches-field.blogspot which while looking primarily at that plot has a lot of information on all the issues.
Don't forget you can air your views and hopefully get answers from your elected representatives too on the Forum!
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