Plans to build two homes on part of the car park at The Owl pub, in Kingsfold, have been refused by Horsham District Council.
The application from Punch Partnerships Limited was rejected by the planning committee on safety grounds during a meeting on Tuesday (September 3).
The idea had been to allow access to the homes from Marches Road, while people going to and from the pub would have to use a new access onto the A24 Dorking Road.
The old access would be closed.
Safety concerns regarding the A24 access were raised during a July meeting of the committee, with the application being deferred so that more information could be sought from West Sussex Highways.
But councillors remained unhappy with what they were being asked to consider – especially the plan to move the pub access closer to the junction of the two roads.
Kasia Greenwood (Lib Dem, Itchingfield, Slinfold & Warnham) referred to a traffic survey carried out by Warnham Parish Council, which she said noted the high volume of traffic and ‘the number of vehicles speeding down the A24’.
Cllr Greenwood raised concerns about a ‘dangerous’ bend in the road next to the pub and the placement of a bus stop nearby.
She spoke about the potential limiting of visibility and build-up of traffic as vehicles tried to get past any buses and waited to turn into the pub car park.
She added: “It strikes me as particularly dangerous.
“I understand we can’t compare this application to something we would prefer to have, but that doesn’t strike me as a good enough reason to endanger public safety and put access to the pub where potentially an accident could happen.”
Colin Minto (Lib Dem, Forest) called the plans ‘an accident waiting to happen’.
It was suggested that the application be deferred again so that the applicant could work with West Sussex Highways to set up a 30mph speed limit.
The suggestion was voted down and the plans refused by 11 votes to one with four abstentions.
To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/23/1909.
