A planning application to build almost 1,500 homes on farmland was turned down by councillors yesterday (Thursday 16 October).
The scheme – dubbed Cuckstye by campaigners – was supported by planning officials at Mid Sussex District Council which may well pave the way for an appeal.
In the meantime, the countryside charity CPRE Sussex welcomed the decision to refuse permission for 1,450 homes on the south side of the A272 between Cuckfield and Ansty.
CPRE Sussex said that it was a commonsense decision to reject the “controversial and wholly unsustainable ‘Cuckstye’ scheme”.
The application for outline planning permission for a “garden community” was submitted by Fairfax Acquisitions Limited and the Norris family.
They proposed up to 1,450 homes – 30 per cent or 435 of them classed as “affordable” – and places for 90 people in residential care plus shops, a health hub and allotments.
The plans included a primary school and a school for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as well as space for community use and sports facilities including all-weather hockey pitches and a tennis centre.
A report to the council’s District Planning Committee said that the site – on farmland east of Ansty Way – was classed as countryside and was directly next to the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
But planning official Stephen Ashdown said that the council was unable to show that it could build enough homes over the next five years and this was a crucial consideration in favour of the scheme.
Almost 500 people sent objections to the scheme to the council, with concerns that included road safety and Southern Water’s lack of capacity to deal with the potential volume of sewage.
One of the representations was a joint objection submitted by Ansty and Staplefield Parish Council and Cuckfield Parish Council which said that the scheme was disproportionate to the size of Ansty village and unsustainable.
After the decision to reject the plans, CPRE Sussex said: “Campaigners have welcomed a decision to refuse planning permission for 1,450 homes on a large farmland site.
“CPRE Sussex said the bid for a large development on the south side of the A272 between Cuckfield and Ansty was ‘wholly unsustainable’.”
CPRE Sussex director Paul Steedman said: “We welcome this commonsense decision by councillors to refuse the ‘Cuckstye’ scheme.
“The application by Fairfax Developments would have seen thousands of new residents dropped into the middle of the countryside, away from infrastructure and public transport links.
“Huge congratulations to all those who have fought so long and hard to protect an important natural landscape from development sprawl.”
The charity added: “CPRE Sussex has been working alongside Cuckfield Parish Council, Ansty and Staplefield Parish Council, the Cuckfield Society and residents to oppose the bid which residents branded the ‘Cuckstye’ scheme.”
Ansty and Staplefield Parish Council and Cuckfield Parish Council said: “This is absolutely the right outcome. The council has properly applied the basic planning principle that new development must be sustainably located and plan-based.
“Ansty Farm was never a sustainable place for major development and the developer’s Knepp-style rewilding scheme was an undeliverable farce from the start.
“The council has already identified other more sustainable locations to meet its need for new homes.
“If the developer appeals, the community will expect their district council to fight like hell to uphold the principles that led to today’s decision and the community here will be right behind them when they do.”
CPRE Sussex planning volunteer Michael Brown said: “The people of Ansty and Cuckfield can be proud of the fight that their parish councils have put up on their behalf and I hope that CPRE Sussex has contributed to their success.
“CPRE Sussex campaigns for development to be sustainably located and sustainably built. Ansty Farm is a textbook example of the wrong place to build.
“Had the decision gone the other way, no part of rural Mid Sussex would have been safe from predatory unplanned development.”
