NEWS RELEASES
Gatwick decision could affect housing quotas
2nd January 2004
IT is important that during 2004 local councils make some real progress in deciding precisely where thousands of new homes are going to be built in West Sussex.
The Government has set us a target of 46,500 houses by the year 2016 and the broad outline of where they should be built has just been set out in a revised County Structure Plan, whilst a new Local Plan for Horsham district will identify more specific locations within this area.
Both these important documents are behind schedule because of various complications, most notably the Government's decision to halt major road improvements on the A27. That has resulted in the county council keeping in reserve 2,250 new homes intended in Chichester and Arun districts, until the situation is clarified.
Now we have a new set of complications provided by the Government's white paper for airport expansion for the next 30 years, a document that is going to have a major effect on where and when new homes can be built around Crawley.
At first glance, the white paper seems to be good news for Horsham district. Many people are rightly concerned that a new runway at Gatwick would cause more noise and pollution as well as population over-crowding. The immediate worries have been eased thanks mainly to the long standing agreement between the local authorities and British Airports Authority which embargoes any new runway before 2019. All along the Government has said that it does not wish to overturn that agreement and their position is confirmed in the white paper.
However, Gatwick Airport is not out of the equation. Far from it. Whilst Stansted is set to get the next runway and Heathrow earmarked for another, it is clear that the Sussex airport is being earmarked for major growth at some point in the future.
If air quality targets cannot be achieved in the Heathrow area, then the planners say that its new runway would be switched to Gatwick. They have also hinted that Gatwick could become suitable for a wide-spaced runway "on its own merits" and they want land around the airport to remain safeguarded for just that purpose.
This new policy statement has big implications for the Horsham district.
We could be in for years of blight, and long periods of uncertainty are not helpful to anyone, nor does it make planning for housing, schools, social services and roads any easier.
The revised County Structure Plan includes 2,700 new homes on the north east side of Crawley and 2,500 to the west of the town, however these allocations might now have to be revised in the light of the Government's wish to freeze land around the airport. The problem, of course, is that no-one can really say how long such a situation would last.
The twin problems of the A27 and Gatwick mean that thousands of homes originally earmarked for Chichester and Crawley might have to be re-distributed to other districts, Horsham included. The latest information and resultant proposals will be set out in a consultation document (part of the Local Development Framework) that we plan to publish in May.
Councillor Vivien Lyth, The Chairman, Horsham District Council, Park North, North Street, Horsham, RH12 1RH.
E-mail: contactchairman@horsham.gov.uk
CONTACT: Richard Morris, Communications Manager
(01403 215549)