Water supply issues a signal housing plans are step too far WSG comment: A week on from our call to PM to halt greenfield development, water issues provide yet more evidence the level of housebuilding in county has gone too far

Earlier this month Boris Johnson spoke out against greenfield development during his speech to the Conservative Party Conference.

This has been a long-running issue in West Sussex as our county is a highly desirable place to live, and average house prices like much of the South East have skyrocketed over the last two decades, making the area attractive for developers to target.

Much of this housebuilding is proposed on green fields, with many brownfield sites ignored as being too costly or difficult to redevelop. And our infrastructure, such as roads, medical facilities and schools, is widely seen as massively underinvested in.

The Prime Minister’s speech and the appointment of Michael Gove as the new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has raised the hope that West Sussex’s housing targets will be drastically reduced to reflect both the number of new homes either built or already granted planning permission as well as the impact all this housebuilding is having on our beautiful natural environment.

The urgent need to slow down the pace of development was surely confirmed when Natural England issued a position statement for the Sussex North Water Supply Zone covering most of Crawley, the Horsham district and the northern half of the Chichester district.

This was sparked by concerns that the current rate of water abstraction could be harming designated protection areas in the Arun Valley.

Since Natural England said it ‘cannot be concluded that the existing abstraction within Sussex North Water Supply Zone is not having an impact on the Arun Valley site’, it advises that new developments in this zone must not add to this impact.

The councils involved have been advised to resolve the matter in partnership through local plans where policies should be put in place to ensure water use is offset for all new developments within the zone.

In the meantime decisions on planning applications should await a strategy’s completion.

However if there are applications deemed critical by the councils to proceed in the absence of a strategy, then Natural England advises any plans need to demonstrate water neutrality. Horsham District Council was at an advanced stage of drawing up its local plan review, which would have upped its annual housing requirement significantly. Chichester District Council is also carrying out a local plan review, a process beset by difficulties and delays.

For too long campaigners and even many of our elected representatives have warned of the consequences of allowing so many massive greenfield developments.

These warnings were often ignored as many statutory consultees raised no objection to plans and waved application after application through, effectively undercutting any argument on policy grounds to refuse large-scale developments.

Mr Gove’s appointment and Natural England’s position statement should allow time for a pause and a rethink.

We are not saying no to any development. But we need homes in the right places that will breathe new life into our communities, not destroy them.

Successive governments have allowed a situation where developers have seen West Sussex’s green fields as ripe for the picking. This must be stopped, and for good.