Nick Herbert welcomes decision to drop North Heath & Adversane development
Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert has welcomed the decision to abandon proposals for a new town of 4,000 houses at North Heath and Adversane.
The greenfield site had been earmarked for housing in Horsham District Council's Core Strategy consultation document, drawn up in response to the Government's demand for 13,000 new houses in the district by 2026.
The Council has also shelved plans to designate Pulborough as a "potential strategic development location" in the period to 2026 and will look instead at other sites in the district.
The decision was announced by the Council on Wednesday (24 February) following a campaign organised by local action group STAND - Stop the Adversane North Heath Development.
Mr Herbert submitted a formal objection to the proposals in October, saying that a new town would devastate the countryside and fail to deal with the lack of affordable housing in the villages.
And he warned that significant development in Pulborough should only be considered with the agreement of the Parish Council.
The MP also declared his opposition to the plans in a meeting with the Chairman and Chief Executive of Horsham District Council in December.
Local campaigner Andrew Swaffield said: "STAND has been very lucky to have had fantastic support from local residents in North Heath and Adversane as well as further afield. With the strong support of our local MP Nick Herbert, and a great deal of hard work from many dedicated volunteers we have managed to keep this issue at the forefront of people's minds throughout.
"We are delighted that Horsham District Council has decided to abandon Option 8 and that our beautiful countryside will remain now for future generations to enjoy."
Nick Herbert commented: "'m very relieved for my constituents in North Heath, Pulborough and West Chiltington that these plans have now been dropped. The new town at North Heath and Adversane would have been twice the size of Pulborough and larger than any other village in my constituency. It would have destroyed a beautiful area of countryside and failed to solve the lack of affordable housing in the villages. So I'm delighted that we've seen it off and I'd like to congratulate STAND for running a terrific campaign."
Mr Herbert confirmed that a Conservative government would scrap the regional housing targets and regional spatial strategies that are driving plans to build more than 74,000 houses in West Sussex over the next 20 years.
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For more information on the campaign against the new town at North Heath and Adversane organised by STAND (Stop the Adversane North Heath Development), visit http://www.saveourcountryside.com/">http://www.saveourcountryside.com