The halting of negotiations over where new housing should be built in and around Horsham could see the district having to make space for even more homes, local politicians have warned.
A government inspector’s concerns over the legality of Horsham District Council’s proposals, coupled with the announcement of higher housing targets for the district, led to talks being halted last week after just two of the scheduled eleven sessions.
Now both the council and Horsham MP John Milne have warned it could allow speculative developers more opportunities to build on sites the council believes are not suitable.
The sessions were to discuss, or examine, the council’s local plan – which includes the designation of sites where housing could and should be built.
These include large areas of land west of Ifield, north west of Southwater and east of Billingshurst, as well as smaller sites in and around the districts’s towns and villages.
Ruth Fletcher, the Liberal Democrat-controlled council’s cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said: “This unnecessary delay is incredibly frustrating. The benefits of passing this plan are obvious in terms of controlling speculative development.
“The government has a stated aim to ensure all areas of the country are covered by a local plan and we will continue to explore every avenue to meet this requirement so that decisions about where new homes go in our district can be taken locally.”
Liberal Democrat MP John Milne said: “This is a very unexpected turn of events and it comes with high risks for Horsham.
“Expectations are being raised in some quarters about a reduction in our housebuilding targets, but this could bring the exact opposite outcome.
“Far from responding to doubts about any particular site, the inspector is potentially adding even more.
“For the last two years we’ve lived through a crazy situation whereby one law says we have to build at least 900 homes a year, and the other says we can’t build any homes at all if they require more water.
“This latest delay risks us having to switch to preparing a plan under Labour’s new rules, and that means even less local control over development.
“Under the previous Conservative system, [the council] was forced to accept urban sprawl across the countryside. It’s extraordinary to see the new government acting to make things even worse.
“Potentially they could increase our annual target from under 500 in the current paused plan to over 1,800. Clearly, this would require many additional sites.
“Given the strength of feeling against the sites already included, it’s setting up an impossible task for any administration at Horsham District council.”
