Current Situation

Timeline of events

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March 2024

HDC 2023-2040 District Local Plan Consultation

On behalf of SRS a big thank you and congratulations to everyone who managed to submit a response to Horsham Council’s Local Plan (Reg 19) consultation – the system for responding (designed by the central planning authorities and which HDC is required to use) is cumbersome and complicated, and no doubt stifles many very legitimate and important objections from the public, but sadly that is the system we all have to work with – for now at least – hopefully common sense will prevail and a simpler and more user friendly system will be developed in the future.

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And many thanks for all time and effort put in by the volunteer supporters of SRS in developing guidance and helping residents navigate their way through the process.It has been been hard work but our messages have been put across – the draft plan is deeply flawed, in particular in relation to the impact its development allocations will have, totally undermining  water neutrality and putting the entire District’s water supply at severe risk. And the allocation of a huge number of new houses adjacent to Southwater conflicts with many of the plan’s Strategic Policies. In short the plan is not viable and is unsound in many respects.

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Other local residents, parish and community groups across the district with whom SRS has been in contact have also been responding in the consultation, raising many similar concerns, so Southwater is by no means alone in its concerns.  The final decision now rests with the Planning Inspector – the examination process will run until at least the end of the year and SRS has requested the right to appear and to participate at the Examination Hearings in the autumn. 

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Further developments will be reported but in the meantime continue to ask the question of the remaining Southwater Lib Dem councillors why their plan for the imposition of 1000 plus new homes for the village, and without any guarantee of the carrot of a new school, is such a good one for residents.

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February 2024

MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD IN THE CONSULTATION

See our step-by-step guide to submitting your objections here >

Save Rural Southwater (SRS) has prepared a detailed response to the current Horsham District Council Regulation 19 Draft Local Plan consultation.  The draft plan, introduced by the Liberal Democrat Controlled District Council, and robustly supported by the four Liberal Democrat councillors elected in May 2023  (on the promise “to hear and represent the voices of the village”  and to “protect our countryside and biodiverse green spaces” ) covers the entire Horsham District including Southwater village/parish.  One of those councillors, the only one resident in or near the  village/parish has since resigned. 

 

SRS opposes the Lib Dem plan for the district and Southwater on numerous grounds which are detailed in the response.  Key issues include the critical water supply situation across the district, the identification of land surrounding Southwater as a strategic development site, conflict with the current Southwater Neighbourhood Plan and the absence of any new hospital provision in the draft plan.

 

Residents are encouraged to comment on the draft plan through the current Regulation 19 consultation process which remains open until 1 March 2024.  Comments can be submitted through an on-line portal on the HDC website or in writing by post.  Later this year, in the autumn, the plan and all comments received on it will be reviewed by an independent government inspector who will test its legality and soundness before the plan is approved (or not) by the inspector. So this is a very important stage in the process and it is vital that as many residents as possible express their views, supporting or otherwise, on the draft plan through the consultation process.

 

For those residents who, like SRS, oppose the plan and its proposed impact on our village, our elected district councillors are of no value whatsoever. This is the plan they support, the plan which guarantees at least 1000 and up to possibly 1500 new homes for the village and thereby guarantees another 30 years or more of development disruption to the village.

 

SRS has prepared this guidance for residents who wish to object to the plan to hopefully simplify the process which is not at first sight simple or user-friendly. Although it is quite a lengthy document, SRS encourages residents to read the detailed objection (insert pdf link) to the draft plan.  The key issues for response in the consultation identified by SRS are;

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• Water Neutrality (Strategic Policy 9)

• Southwater as a strategic development site (Strategic Policy HA3)

• Settlement coalescence (Strategic Policy 15)

• Development Hierarchy (Strategic Policy 2)

• No Hospital/s (Strategic Policy 27)

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December 2023

Shock for Southwater as HDC approves draft District Local Plan 2023-2040

At the Extraordinary Horsham District Council meeting held on Monday 11 December, the Lib Dem controlled Council voted strongly in favour of the Draft Local Plan which was published late on Friday 1 December. Not good news, in fact the worst news for the village.

 

At the hearing ,which lasted for almost 5 hours, a number of Councillors asked why the plan was being put out before the imminent release of the detail of the government changes to national planning policy ( the NPPF – National Planning Policy Framework). In particular, anticipated changes in relation to the location of new housing and ancillary development and changes to protect productive agricultural land against development, both highly pertinent to our district Plan. Ironically, our Parish Council when it approached HDC asking whether in view of the upcoming changes to proceed with updating the Southwater Neighbourhood plan was told to await the government changes to the NPPF. But HDC it appears decided that it was another rule for them and they proceeded regardless with approval of the District plan .

 

And guess what, yesterday (12 December) details of the government changes emerged – changes which could have huge implications for the location and scale of development in our district and in particular in Southwater and which could lead to substantial scaling down of government housing targets for the district, give significant protection against development on green spaces and agricultural land. Further detail is awaited but one has to seriously question why the Council was not prepared to wait, as they told our Parish council to do, for this detail to emerge.

 

But did our Councillors support us?

Very disappointingly all four of our recently elected Southwater District Councillors, who canvassed in the run up to the elections on the promise “to protect our countryside” and to “save our biodiverse green spaces” and only one of whom resides in the village/parish, spoke passionately about what a good plan it was and voted in favour of the plan. The same four Councillors who stood with SRS supporters for a photo opportunity in front of Beeson House. These Councillors all know how strongly opposed the village is to further development in and around the village, or should have done if they had bothered to sound views in the village, and they also know that they could very easily have reflected the sentiments of the village by opposing the plan (without any risk to them or to their party that this would have affected the final result) or they could even have abstained from voting.

 

But no, they did not oppose or abstain. They chose instead to give their full support to the plan. Villagers might be excused for thinking this showed a very considerable degree of arrogance from our councillors, recently elected and largely non-resident, and entirely unaffected by the huge further development they intend, against the wishes of the majority of residents, to impose on the village. We have all learned a lesson, and a painful one, for the future when it comes to dealing with our elected District Councillors.

 

What next?

The plan remains a draft plan and can be commented on by the public during a six week consultation process which will start in mid-January. It is vital that as many residents as possible submit their views in this process as they did in the successful challenge to the Berkeley Homes 1500 homes application which attracted over 1300 objections. Following the consultation the plan will be reviewed by a government inspector at hearings at which the real views of the village, rather than those of our Councillors, can be put.

 

SRS will be closely involved in the consultation process and the inspector hearings and will keep residents informed on this website and on social media on how they can also participate and make their views known so watch this space!

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October 2023

Horsham District Local Plan (HDLP) update

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The latest indications from HDC (source HDC website) are that the draft HDLP (known as the Regulation 19 document) will be published by HDC Planning in early December 2023 with a recommendation to the HDC Cabinet and Council (at their meeting on 11 December ) for public consultation during January and February 2024. The meetings on 11 December will be held in public and broadcast live on YouTube. SRS will attend and request to speak at the meetings.

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Following the consultation period the Regulation 19 draft will be reviewed in the light of comments received and reissued in June 2024 for review by an independent government appointed inspector for examination and further consideration in public hearings scheduled for October 2024. There will be further consultation on main modifications with the report of the inspector due in the Spring of 2025 and adoption of the new HDLP shortly thereafter. This timetable is provisional and may be subject to change.

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 SRS will continue to monitor this process and advise of any changes in the timetable.

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May 2023

Horsham District Council Elections - Lib Dem Win

Following the May 2023 District Council Elections the long-standing Conservative control on the council has changed. The Liberal Democrats  are now the majority party on the Council and will lead on planning matters, including publication of the updated Local Plan going forwards.

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Save Rural Southwater will be closely monitoring the progress of the updated Local Plan. See details of current statements from our new councillors on our News page >

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April 2023

Horsham District Local Plan (HDLP)

One of the objectives of the periodically updated local district plan prepared, consulted on and approved by HDC is to set local housing allocation across the district and to identify land for housing development.

 

The current (2015) version of the HPLP excluded all the Christ’s Hospital and Aubrey-Fletcher Trust land northwest of the village recently proposed by Berkeley Homes for development - thereby protecting the valuable farm and woodland and biodiversity around the village, maintaining settlement separation and mitigating the risk of over-stressing crucial infrastructure in and around the village, in particular water supply and wastewater treatment, road and transport access, hospital and medical facilities.

 

In 2021 HDC prepared an updated draft local plan which included the land northwest of Southwater, subsequently proposed for the Berkeley Homes development. Undoubtedly this encouraged the landowners and Berkeley Homes to prepare their now withdrawn application. For various reasons the draft plan was withdrawn at the eleventh hour and, since then, the issue of water neutrality has intervened however the updated plan remains on the shelf and almost reappeared in 2022 and in early 2023. Publication of the updated plan was postponed until after the May Council elections and this will resurface later in the year.

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March 2023

Berkeley Group initial proposal withdrawn

SRS is encouraged that the application (HDC number DC/22/1916) has been withdrawn. The result of massive local opposition and advice from Horsham District Council Planning Officers that it would not be agreed by officers or councillors. As a village that has already grown significantly in a short time. 

 

Southwater now needs time to breathe and consolidate. However, this is likely to be only a temporary respite. Berkeleys will be back before long, with a slightly amended plan.

 

The Horsham District Council officer’s report was comprehensive and cited many reasons for refusal including:

 

• The principle of development was contrary to HDC policy;

• Unsustainable growth in Southwater;

• Heritage harm;

• Water neutrality;

• No completed legal agreement for affordable housing and infrastructure;

• Loss of trees;

• Insufficient information for provisions for young people.

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October 2022

Berkeley Group Submit planning application for 1500 houses

In October 2022 Berkeley Homes submitted an application to build 1500 houses, a school, shops, leisure facilities and a traveller site on farmland north and west of Southwater. Berkeley Homes ignored the fact that 88% of people who responded to their consultation did not support their proposals. They completely ignored the Southwater Neighbourhood Plan and the Built Up Area Boundary. 1500 more homes would have DOUBLED the size of our village.

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