Lowering unrealistic housing targets is a sensible decision

There are few more vexed subjects in this part of West Sussex than the desecration of our green fields for yet more development.

The concreting over of our countryside is not made any easier by the lack of central government funding on infrastructure - particularly improvements to key A-roads and health facilities.

In places with the highest housing targets such as the Horsham district - public outrage at the profoundly ruinous plans has been rightly vociferous.

So news that a change has been dropped to the housing numbers formula that would have significantly increased housebuilding over and above the volumes already demanded is to be welcomed.

We know many of our MPs have played a key role in this but we applaud the lead given nationally by Arundel & South Downs MP Andrew Griffith who has been outspoken on the subject from the very beginning. He has fought an exemplary campaign.

Now we wait to see what the housing requirement, which was set to rocket up to 1,715 new homes every year, will be revised down to and what the implications will be for Horsham District Council’s review of its local plan.

Even if the target is marginally higher than then 800 homes set back in 2015 when the local plan was adopted, new strategic sites will still have to be found and allocated.

A decision on what sites and housing target is included in the latest draft iteration of the plan is expected to be made by councillors early in 2021. This will then be put out to the public for another round of consultation before it is examined in public by an independent government appointed planning inspector.