Lindfield Neighbourhood Plan - Pre Submission Plan

Cllr Alan Gomme, Chairman of Lindfield & Lindfield Rural Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.     

I’m happy to report that excellent progress is being made by the Steering Group and our consultants from Action in Rural Sussex and rCOH. That progress includes the Pre-Submission Plan, essentially a draft, being agreed by both Lindfield & Lindfield Rural Parish Councils and the publication of it by Mid Sussex District Council. 

The Pre-Submission Plan contains a number of policies that have been drafted following considerable interaction and consultation with residents of our parishes over the last 18 months. These policies will apply for the plan period up to 2031 and include areas where Mid Sussex District Council and the Parish Councils will encourage some small developments and changes, and other areas where development will be resisted. However, given the recent history of about 250 new houses having been granted planning permission in our parishes since April 2012, there is no requirement within the plan to provide for any large housing developments.

Starting in late October or early November, there will be a consultation period of six weeks, during which time you are able to review the plan and comment on it should you wish to do so. It will be available on the Lindfield Parish Council’s website and there will be the appropriate link to that from Lindfield Rural Parish Council’s website. If you would prefer to read a printed version, these will be available to study at both the councils’ offices and the Haywards Heath Library during normal opening hours.

During November we will be holding further ‘Pop-In Sessions’ in the King Edward Hall’s Jubilee Room on Tuesday evening 19th November from 7pm to 9 pm and on Saturday morning 23rd November at Scaynes Hill Millennium Village Centre from 10am until midday. Please watch out for banners and posters advertising these events.  

We invite you to send your comments and opinions to the clerks of either Lindfield Parish Council (clerks@lindfieldparishcouncil.gov.uk) or Lindfield Rural Parish Council (clerk@lindfieldrural-pc.org.uk).

Proposed new development off Gravelye Lane, Lindfield

Lindfield Preservation Society just missed the copydate for Feb's magazine for this article, written by them, about a new development in Lindfield...

Wates the developers have applied for planning permission to build 230 houses on green field land off Gravelye Lane. Combined with the high-density housing estates that Lindfield has already been compelled to accept at Newton Road and Lyoth Lane, this scheme would add 1,000 new residents to the village – a population increase of 20%. It would put 600 additional cars on our roads (figures based on West Sussex County Council census data). This kind of speculative development is grossly disproportionate to the scale of our village and the capacity of its infrastructure.

Nor is there any need for it. There are currently approved sites for more than 4,000 homes in Mid Sussex, which developers have not taken up. This should be more than enough for them to be getting on with, especially as the historical completion rate is c. 400 houses per year.

Even if there were a need, this site is entirely inappropriate for large-scale development. A housing estate of this size would do further, serious damage to a local infrastructure that is already overstretched. Local roads are already congested at peak times, schools and medical facilities are oversubscribed and water and sewage systems are under considerable strain. Bland assurances from the developers that they would work with various bodies to mitigate the impact of their proposals are as meaningless as they are vague.

Our countryside is precious. Once it is gone, it is gone for good. Before more of it is lost, there should at the very least be a convincing demonstration of an overriding local need. There is clearly no such need here.

Concerned residents can help by sending their objections to Mid Sussex District Council Planning Department before the deadline of 8 February.