The Local Plan hearings ended on 22 October with the Inspector's preliminary view that the plan is sound. Report early 2027. The day-by-day sessions and sites.

Updated 25 October: the hearings closed on 22 October. The council says the Inspector’s preliminary conclusion is that the plan is sound; a short technical consultation on a few further main modifications comes next, and his final report is expected early in 2027. Full story: Horsham Local Plan: Inspector’s early view is it is sound.

The sites that would take most of Horsham district’s new homes go before a planning Inspector from Tuesday. The second stage of hearings into the district’s Local Plan opens at Albery House, Horsham, at 10am on 13 October.

Horsham District Council announced the hearings on 8 October. It expects the plan to be “fully adopted in early 2027”.

Inspector Jonathan Bore will spend two days on the overall strategy, then take the big sites one at a time. Land West of Ifield, for 3,000 homes, is on Thursday 15 October. The new settlement at Adversane, for 3,200, is on Tuesday 20 October.

Which site, which day

From the Inspector’s hearing programme, version 3, PDF and his revised agenda of 8 October, PDF:

Day Time Session
Tue 13 Oct 10am Opening, then the spatial strategy: promoters and developers
Wed 14 Oct 10am The spatial strategy: residents, parish councils and groups
Thu 15 Oct 10.15am Land West of Ifield (3,000 homes)
Thu 15 Oct 3.45pm Land West of Kilnwood Vale (350 homes)
Fri 16 Oct 10am Land North West of Southwater (1,044 homes)
Fri 16 Oct 2pm Land East of Billingshurst, with its southern extension (1,000 homes)
Tue 20 Oct 10am Land at Adversane, Kingswood (3,200 homes)
Wed 21 Oct 10am Ashington, site ASN2 (450 homes)
Wed 21 Oct 11.45am Storrington, site STO3 (50 homes)
Wed 21 Oct 2pm Henfield, site HNF3 (450 homes)
Thu 22 Oct 10am Inspector’s announcements, then reserve day
Fri 23 Oct 10am Reserve day

The home numbers are the allocations in the council’s schedule of main modifications, PDF. Adversane is a new settlement added at that stage. At least 1,425 of its homes are counted before 2040.

Bar chart of homes at the sites in the October hearings. Adversane (Kingswood) 3,200; Land West of Ifield 3,000; North West of Southwater 1,044; East of Billingshurst 1,000; Ashington ASN2 450; Henfield HNF3 450; Kilnwood Vale 350; Storrington STO3 50.
Chart by Horsham Daily, from the council's schedule of main modifications and the Inspector's hearing programme.
Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppX

What gets argued about each site

The Inspector rewrote his agenda on 8 October after reading the hearing statements. “Discussion will be limited to these topics,” he says for each site. The main ones:

  • West of Ifield: masterplanning and build-out rates; funding for the link road; traffic on Crawley’s roads; the closure of the golf course and replacement sports facilities; Gatwick Airport safeguarding.
  • Kilnwood Vale: access, and the route safeguarded for the link road.
  • North West of Southwater: works to the Hop Oast roundabout; safe walking and cycling routes; where the secondary school goes; wildlife and woodland.
  • East of Billingshurst: whether a footbridge or underpass is needed, who pays and when; the total number of homes; when the primary school arrives.
  • Adversane: funding and timing of the new road, railway bridge and roundabout; buses and active travel; the proposed secondary school; the setting of the South Downs National Park; The Mens SAC and the Arun Valley habitats.
  • Ashington ASN2: the combined effect with schemes already approved on the character of the village; how transport, school and health needs are paid for.
  • Storrington STO3: how the site is named on the policies map; views of the National Park from the ridge to the north; heritage.
  • Henfield HNF3: traffic in the village alongside HNF2 and existing permissions; safe crossing of the A281; ancient woodland.

Two changes are worth knowing if you have followed one site. Horsham site HOR3 will not have a hearing; the Inspector is dealing with it in writing. And Storrington sites STO2 and STO4, still listed in the programme, have dropped off the agenda: he says “sufficient information” on them has been submitted in writing.

What is not up for debate

The Inspector’s guidance note, PDF rules three things out:

  • The housing number. The hearings “will not re-visit” the requirement of 18,712 homes to 2040 or the stepped trajectory. Those were heard in April, and he says the council’s figures are “appropriate responses” to his letter of 5 May.
  • Other sites. There will be no discussion of “omission sites such as Buck Barn or Land West of Billingshurst”. Choosing sites is the council’s task.
  • Smaller allocations. He will put any questions on these to the council in writing.

Who is speaking

Only people named in the programme may speak. On Tuesday the council’s opening is followed by John Milne MP. Andrew Griffith MP is listed for the West of Ifield session on Thursday.

The other participants are mostly developers, councils and campaign groups. Among them:

  • Homes England, the government agency promoting West of Ifield
  • Crawley Borough Council and West Sussex County Council
  • Save West of Ifield and Save Rural Southwater
  • Billingshurst, Southwater, Rusper, Pulborough and West Chiltington parish councils
  • CPRE Sussex, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Network Rail, at the Adversane session

What it means for you

You can watch every session. The guidance note says each one “will be streamed and recorded” on the council’s YouTube channel. You can also sit in at Albery House, Springfield Road, RH12 2GB. Sessions normally start at 10am and 2pm, and latecomers may not be admitted.

You cannot join in now if you are not on the list. The Inspector says written comments already sent in count the same as anything said in the room. No new evidence is accepted once the hearings close, unless he asks for it.

After the hearings he writes his report. The council then decides whether to adopt the plan. Until it does, the 2015 Horsham District Planning Framework remains the district’s adopted plan. If you have a planning application near one of these sites, our planning applications page shows how to look it up.

Questions about the programme go to the Programme Officers at programmeofficer@horsham.gov.uk.

Sources