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You have until 20th March to respond to the Mid Sussex District Council
Core Strategy Consultation, which ultimately will determine how many houses are
built in East Grinstead, and critically for
Forest Row, whether or not there will be a full relief road.
RESPOND: with help from these two documents
Please refer to these as guidance on
how to respond to this important consultation.
For anyone who wishes to make a personalised response by
email or letter (this is more powerful than the pre-printed stereotyped
responses that will just be counted and put in a box) – use this email address:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or this mailing address: Planning Policy Division at Mid Sussex District
Council, Oaklands, Haywards Heath RH16 1SS.. Tel. 01444 477 053.
And to download and view the Core Strategy Documents in
detail, visit: www.midsussex.gov.uk/corestrategy.
 FRIDAY 7th
MARCH – 8pm – MAIN HALL – FR COMMUNITY CENTRE
The
agenda for this workshop will be:
-
Update on the MSDC Core
Strategy, and the implications for Forest Row.
-
Debate and discussion
during which you can express your views
-
Advice as to how you can
make your contribution to the formal consultation
See below for background
information
Cllrs David Jonas & Vania
Phitidis 01342 826 144
Mid Sussex
Core Strategy Consultation
Deadline 20th March 2008
Background Information
Up until the 20th March you will be
able to comment on the latest plan for new housing development in East Grinstead, and the extent of any relief road affecting
Forest Row. Public comment will be used as “evidence” in preparing the
final report for a government inspector in 2009, whose decision will be
binding.
The latest twist came in October, when the
government declared that there must be “cross border conformity” between
the respective plans for Mid Sussex and Wealden, especially at the
interface between East Grinstead and
Forest Row. This forced Mid Sussex officers to reassess their plans for
2500 houses with relief road to the Brambletye Bends, and offer a
contingency option of just 1500 houses with a “partial relief road” extending
as far as a new intersection with the Turners Hill Road.
However, under pressure from central government
to find sites for 15,000 houses in Mid Sussex, the larger scheme is still
their preferred option, and this is why the “evidence” gathered in this
consultation could determine the outcome. I am particularly concerned that
Mid Sussex might point out to the government inspector that Forest Row
residents have been asking for the road to be extended to the south of
Forest Row (this is the Parish Council’s current contingency plan), and ask
why Wealden District Council haven’t fully explored this option. This would
come at a time when Wealden officers are trying to determine potential
sites for our own government allocation of 9600 new houses.
If Wealden officers were forced to draft a plan
in order to explore this option, it would involve building 1500 houses to
the west of our village just to pay for the extension of the relief road,
and a further 500 to pay for the expansion of our community infrastructure
– more than doubling the size of our community. We would have no influence
over the outcome, as it would be voted through by councillors from
Polegate, Hailsham, Uckfield and Crowborough in the interests of relieving
the pressure to build housing in their areas.
This is an important consultation, so be careful what
you ask for!
Cllr David
Jonas
3rd
March 2008
Thank you David for highlighting this, its almost like their is a news blackout on this - Nothing in the local paper this week, only a letter published from Vic Simonis having a good go at Coucillor Manger (and rightly so). I hope we can awaken the village to action so that as many responses as possible are sent in opposing Mid Sussex Council's plan. I think as many people as possible should try and speak with the Forest Row Parish Councillors ahead of their meeting on 18 March to urge them to drop their controversial proposal of a Forest Row bypass. It is in nobody's interest and will only bring more traffic to the area in the long run! |
