The stream and birch trees go as planned, the water feature stays, and Worthing Road is cut to save £958,000. Cabinet decides on 23 September.

The stream in the Bishopric will be removed and the stand of birch trees will go with it, despite the petition against both. That is confirmed in a draft Cabinet report published by Horsham District Council on 1 September, which asks for £1.2m of extra funding and sets construction to start in January 2027.

The report goes to the Communities and Place Policy and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday 9 September, then to Cabinet on 23 September. The £1.2m has to be signed off by Full Council, which is due to decide on 7 October (Cabinet report, September forward plan).

What happens to the stream, the rocks and the trees

Residents petitioned to “Save the Stream, Rocks and Birch Trees in the Bishopric”. Full Council considered that e-petition on 24 September 2025. The revised design answers it in part and refuses it in part:

  • the existing stream will be removed as planned, to open the area up and improve the walking route between Waitrose and John Lewis and West Street
  • the existing water feature will be retained and upgraded
  • the birch trees standing in the former splash pool of the Rising Universe will be removed as planned, which the council says was always the intention because they were “a temporary and not a sustainable long term solution”
  • replacement trees will go into the central plaza, with bench seating and market utility points alongside them
  • the mature trees in the Bishopric west area will be kept, as originally planned

Two things are being added to the central plaza that were not in the earlier design. A small events stage, to support the market and community events. And more space for tables and chairs, some under permanent canopies, in the opened-up arm of the Bishopric and next to the former Wilko building.

Worthing Road is cut from the scheme, and that is where the money comes from

The single biggest change is a deletion. All works on Worthing Road, south of the bus station, have been taken out of the Bishopric scheme. The council’s stated reason is value: of the four areas making up the Bishopric public realm, it says Worthing Road provides the least.

The saving is £958,000, and it is what makes the revised budget work.

Two cycling proposals go with it:

  • the dedicated on-carriageway cycle lane from Sainsbury’s Roundabout to the Bishopric is dropped
  • the cycle lanes from Albion Way, Springfield Road and the bus station running through the central plaza are dropped

The existing shared space arrangement stays instead, inside the wider pedestrian priority zone. Instead of markings, the council says paving pattern and colour will be varied as “visual cues” to show:

  • where people walk
  • where market stalls are set out
  • where tables and chairs sit
  • where emergency and service vehicles need to get through

West Sussex County Council is separately proposing three additional bus stands at the top of Worthing Road. Because of that, a revised cycle route is now shown on the eastern side of the bus station, letting cyclists move between Blackhorse Way and the southern end of the Bishopric.

The money

Chart showing the Bishopric public realm budget: a 2.6 million pound capital allocation, of which 558,000 pounds has already been spent on professional fees and a further 100,000 pounds is estimated for 2026/27, leaving about 2 million pounds for construction; adding 1.2 million pounds from the West Sussex Business Rates Pool gives a 3.2 million pound pot. Removing Worthing Road saves 958,000 pounds. The Carfax scheme has risen from a 5.95 million pound estimate to between 6.1 and 6.5 million pounds and is unfunded.
Graphic by Horsham Daily. Figures from the council's draft Cabinet report of 1 September 2026.
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The RIBA Stage 3 cost plan received on 21 January 2025 put the whole Bishopric scheme at £3.96m. Costs have risen since, which the council attributes to the design changes and to material price increases.

The budget stands as follows:

  • £2.6m was allocated as capital by the former administration, covering the Bishopric delivery and a finished Carfax design
  • £558,000 has already been spent on professional fees
  • a further £100,000 is estimated for 2026/27
  • that leaves roughly £2m for construction
  • the requested £1.2m from the West Sussex County Council Business Rates Pool would take the pot to £3.2m

The council flags one risk against that: as the overall project value rises, consultant and design fees can rise with it.

The Carfax is design only, and it has got more expensive

The Carfax scheme is not funded for construction. The report asks only to take it through to RIBA Stage 4, technical design. Its RIBA Stage 3 estimate was £5.95m. At Stage 3A that has become £6.1m to £6.5m, an increase of around £550,000. It stays as a design “until further capital funding is identified”.

The Carfax design has changed in ways that will be visible to anyone who uses the town centre:

  • the proposed Pedestrian Priority Zone restricting through-traffic has been dropped, because of unresolved effects on access to properties and deliveries
  • the existing bus stops stay where they are, and their facilities will be improved
  • the loading bay nearest the Bandstand is kept, for market traders, residents and general loading
  • the cobbles come out, replaced with an asphalt and chippings surface of the kind already used in the Causeway and Worthing Road, chosen on maintenance, cost and risk grounds and easier to cross on foot
  • the cycle contraflow from Chart Way to Blackhorse Way has been realigned, extended down South Street, and narrowed from 2 metres to 1.5 metres to leave room for buses
  • the West Street pedestrian crossing is widened and its raised table removed
  • in Medwin Walk the cycle route is dropped and pedestrian priority kept; the two-tier cycle stand still goes, replaced by secure bike hangars
  • the disabled parking area in South Street reverts to the existing echelon layout
  • the extra crossing proposed opposite Piries Place is dropped, because the bus stops are staying put

The report also records two safety tweaks: the cycle track crossing outside The Red Deer gets a curved alignment to smooth the turn, and a stop line goes in at the end of Black Horse Way to slow buses turning left into South Street.

What it means for you

Nothing changes on the ground this year. If Cabinet and Council both approve, Bishopric construction starts in January 2027. There is no construction date for the Carfax, because there is no construction money for it.

The 9 September meeting is a scrutiny committee, not the decision. It starts at 5.30pm in the Council Chamber at Albery House, Springfield Road, and it is open to the public. The committee services team can be reached at committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk or 01403 215465.

The decisions themselves are Cabinet on 23 September and Full Council on 7 October. The affected ward is Denne. The council officer named on the report is Charlotte Arundell, Corporate Project Manager.

If you drive into town, the Carfax work would eventually change surfaces and crossings but not the bus stops or the loading bay. Our parking in Horsham page covers the car parks around both areas, and Horsham roadworks and travel tracks live closures.

Sources

Checked against the sources above on 4 September 2026. All figures and design changes are taken from the body of the draft Cabinet report. We have not read Appendix A, the RIBA Stage 3A report, or Appendix B, the spatial planning masterplans, which are published alongside it on the committee agenda. The report is a draft going to scrutiny; Cabinet may amend it.