Horsham council plans to give The Cedars, off Stane Street, to Billingshurst Parish Council for £1, opening a site padlocked since 2019 as public green space.

A patch of land in Billingshurst that has been padlocked since 2019, and was nearly sold for housing, is set to open to the public as green space. Horsham District Council plans to hand The Cedars, off Stane Street, to Billingshurst Parish Council for £1.

The district council’s Cabinet decides on Wednesday 18 November. Councillors on the Communities and Place scrutiny committee look at the plan first, on Wednesday 4 November (Cabinet report, committee agenda).

The site

The Cedars is a 1.967-acre site reached from Stane Street, in the Parbrook part of the village. It comes in two parcels: a pond on the south side and green space to the north, with a driveway between them that serves a small group of homes.

The council bought it in 1997, as part of the strategic development of Billingshurst. The report says it has never been managed as open space. It was allowed to grow wild, and has been padlocked with no public access since 2019.

How it nearly became housing

The land was first protected by a covenant that described it as “open space”. In March 2019 the council’s Cabinet decided the northern part could be sold. The council paid £20,000 to have the covenant lifted, and worked towards a sale to a developer.

Two schemes followed:

  • a retirement living development, drawn up by a developer in early 2019
  • a smaller scheme of about 12 homes, with some affordable housing

Neither went ahead. The report puts that down to the housing market after the pandemic, the developer’s financial difficulties and “significant local objection”, with “a clear preference for the land to be retained and used for open space”.

What the council would give up

The northern part of the site has a notional value of £1,025,000 as housing land, according to an independent valuation the council commissioned. The southern part, with the pond, is valued at £1. Transferring the whole site for £1 means giving up that possible sale.

The council can do this without government consent because the undervalue is below £2 million and the transfer is judged to benefit the area. The report is open about the trade-off: councillors “will therefore need to be satisfied that the identified long-term public benefits justify that financial opportunity cost”.

The council would save about £3,500 a year it now spends strimming and managing the site. The parish council has set aside £7,500 a year to look after it.

When the council consulted on its 2026/27 Annual Plan, some respondents said the site should be sold for housing to get the most money from it. That consultation drew 54 responses in all.

What the parish council plans

Billingshurst Parish Council’s business case says the site would be open to the public. It lists informal recreation such as walking and watching wildlife, conservation days, school visits and community events. Its five-year plan runs:

Year What the parish plans
1 Complete the transfer, survey the site, set up inspections and a management plan
2 Priority maintenance, signs, a volunteer group
3 Consider planting an orchard, after a public consultation; educational activities and events
4 Habitat improvements, review public access
5 A formal review and the next five-year plan

The transfer would carry legal restrictions keeping the land as open space. If it were ever sold or developed for something more valuable, with the district council’s consent, an overage clause would return a share of the gain.

What it means for you

  • The site is not open yet. The transfer needs Cabinet approval on 18 November, then the legal paperwork. The report gives no opening date.
  • You may get a say. If officers decide the land legally counts as open space, the council must advertise the plan in a local paper for two weeks and consider objections before the transfer. The report says it is “doubtful” that this applies, but officers may follow the step anyway.
  • To comment before the decision, contact your district councillors for Billingshurst or the parish council. The scrutiny meeting on 4 November starts at 5.30pm and is open to the public.

The legal protections refer to the district council “or successor authority”, because Horsham District Council is due to be replaced by a new unitary council under local government reorganisation.

For other changes around the village, see our pages on Horsham planning applications and the Billingshurst pump track consultation.

Sources