A local group has mounted a campaign to urge Lewes District Council to reject a plan for 1,100 houses between Cooksbridge and Hamsey.
The scheme has been proposed for 78-hectare (193-acre) greenfield site on the very edge of the South Downs National Park.
The Don’t Urbanise Hamlet group believe that the proposal is “the wrong development in the wrong place” and will affect residents of surrounding areas in Lewes, Offham, Barcombe, East Chiltington, Chailey and Newick.
The campaign website said: “This scheme would completely overwhelm the very limited infrastructure of the small local village of Cooksbridge and the rural hamlets of Hamsey and Offham.
“It would merge three (possibly four) distinct settlements, creating an urban sprawl – and increasing their combined population by five or six-fold.
“The area would be impacted beyond recognition. Building 1,100 homes on an isolated, greenfield site would create 1,100 new, car-dependent households, promoting unsustainable travel behaviour.
“All the estimated 2,000+ residents would be reliant on driving to Lewes and other established settlements to access all services.”
The campaign has the backing of Councillor James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Lewes District Council.
He said: “It is obvious to me that this site for 1,100 houses between Hamsey and Cooksbridge is completely unsuitable.
“It lacks the key infrastructure needed to support a development of that size and, perhaps more importantly, threatens to destroy the rural nature of the area.
“I will stand with residents to oppose its inclusion in the new Local Plan”.
