Cllr Williams spoke at MSDC planning meeting re Burleigh Way, Crawley Down

Published: 21 November 2025

Thank you for letting me address you today.

At Worth Parish Council we respect your planning officers for trying to find solutions during difficult times. We understand the implications of the new NPPF, the lack of a district plan and 5 year housing land supply. We applaud your work on the planning position statement and determination to find a solution to the district plan. We worked with Wates to get the best outcome for the village for their 350 new homes. We have thanked your enforcement team for recent prompt action.

But this time you have got it badly wrong.

This development with access via Woodlands Close is a flippers charter. The developer is taking advantage of the lack of a 5 year housing land supply to bring forward a low quality scheme to secure a consent and sell the site. They will gain financially without benefit to Crawley Down or MSDC. We predict the vast sums offered to the owners of the houses being demolished, the cost of the land, provision of affordable homes,106 commitments, a section 98 order for foul water drainage, consultants fees, and more will make it unviable. This application wont provide numbers towards the 5 year supply. It will end as an unviable consented scheme counting for nothing but precedent for a new application from a new site owner.

In NPPF speak it wont make effective use of land, secure a well-designed place, provide affordable homes neither will it secure economic, social or environmental objectives.

Access via Woodlands Close fails to meet DPD recommendations. Inspector Fox made clear vehicular access should be via Sycamore Lane, with failure to secure this meaning the site failed the test of effectiveness and should be deleted from the plan. Further The urban design includes in reality 3 storey houses not in keeping with nearby housing and a worrying precedent for a new application. On site there will be a biodiversity net loss with no conservation or enhancement to local wildlife including bats, crested newts and badgers. No agreement has been reached with Burleigh Woods neighbours for foul water drains and manholes across their land. And on the other side the risk of flooding the lower houses in Woodlands Close is huge. As for The highways -a quiet cul de sac will become a rat run with the introduction of a new Mid Sussex planning precedent - the conversion of a residential house into a traffic island. So appalling the local MP presented a petition to Parliament yesterday opposing it. The first time she has presented a petition since being elected as an MP.

This development is a disaster. The planning inspectors judgement on access is clearly being ignored for a low grade application. The only excuse is that it is expedient to do so. You should reject this approach. Development gets one chance to be done properly. Its so important this happens. Please reject this application or at the very least refer it to the planning inspectorate. Don’t inflict a substandard development on Crawley Down.