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Well done over Southwater campaign
I WOULD like to congratulate the 'Keep Southwater Green' action group on their hard work in collecting nearly 4,000 signatures in opposition to the possibility of further large scale development in Southwater.
I must put on record that I sympathise with their aims since I too feel that any large scale housing development imposed by central government on our district should not be considered until all other options have been carefully examined.
Horsham District Council is currently in a position of extreme difficulty. Central government policy is firmly biased to more housing in the South East, with a Government target of 13,000 more houses for Horsham district alone.
What the council is attempting to do is to manage the process by making it difficult for landowners making applications for development on vacant land in Southwater and elsewhere to successfully obtain planning permission. Without this work current legislation means such applications would be very difficult to oppose.
To try and keep control of the situation the district council has issued a Local Development Framework document. This document and the process behind it considers the suitability of land put forward by developers to meet the Government's centrally determined housing requirements. Inclusion in the document does not mean land will automatically be built on.
The district council is currently looking at all the options open to it and this includes the possibility of founding a new settlement away from existing villages to take a good part of this new housing and so reduce the pressure on us all.
I have been contacted by many Southwater residents on this matter and I share their frustration with the process. Do please keep your views coming so that that I can ensure they are discussed with my fellow councillors and I can represent you to the best of my ability.
CLAIRE VICKERS
(Con) Horsham district councillor for Southwater
Park House
North Street
Horsham
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Weather for Horsham
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 3 C
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