At the last parish council meeting, it was reported that the council’s consultant is due complete the necessary amendments to the draft Neighbourhood Plan by the end of January/beginning of February 2017. (We will let you know when the amended plan is available for public viewing). An extraordinary meeting of the parish council will be held when the plan is ready for the council to accept and agree to submit it to Mid Sussex. (We will let you know the date of this meeting when it is announced). It is anticipated that this part of process will be completed by the end of February 2017. Parishioners will get an opportunity to vote in a referendum on the amended plan later in the year, subject to a consultation by Mid Sussex and an independent examination. This will be an important milestone as, without a Neighbourhood Plan, the village is currently vulnerable to unplanned speculative development.
You may be aware that the emerging Mid Sussex District Plan is presently undergoing a public examination by a government inspector, who is challenging Mid Sussex to demonstrate that provision has been made for an adequate supply of housing for the district. In response to the suggestion that the planned number of houses per year for the district may need to be increased, to meet the objectively assessed need, Mid Sussex have recently undertaken a review of all parts of the district to assess the relevant constraints to development and their suitability to accommodate additional housing. Mid Sussex concluded from this exercise that Horsted Keynes is “considered unsustainable to accommodate further growth in the Parish at the current time”. This is significant as some people are of the opinion that a large amount of additional housing is necessary for Horsted Keynes. It would now appear that Mid Sussex recognise this would have an unacceptable impact. We await the inspector’s interim findings which are due at the beginning of March 2017.
