Council set to debate plans for 165 Broadbridge Heath homes

Gleeson Developments is seeking outline permission to build the units on land north of Old Guildford Road from Horsham District Council’s Development Control North Committee.

But more than a hundred residents have written to the council objecting to proposals on the grounds of overdevelopment, impact on infrastructure and highways, an increased risk of flooding, erosion of green links, and the cumulative impact the scheme will have on top of the hundreds of homes being built south of the village.

The parish councils of Broadbridge Heath, Warnham, and Slinfold have also all objected, as has the Horsham Society, and the Camapign to Protect Rural England.

However officers have recommended that the application should be approved.

The officers’ report reads: “There is an over-arching and evidential need for housing across the district, both in terms of market and affordable provision, but also in respect of the benefits accrued through the provision of residential care home facilities.

“The district is failing to meet its five-year housing land supply, and this is highly material in respect of the need for the Local Planning Authority to apply its policies relevant to the supply of housing flexibility under paragraph 49 of the Framework.”