Pulborough gypsy pitches refused due to road safety concerns

The application for the site at Lane Top, in Nutbourne Road, was turned down during a meeting of Horsham District Council’s planning committee on Tuesday (April 27).

Diana van der Klugt (Con, Pulborough, Coldwaltham & Amberley) spoke at length about her concerns about the poor visibility for cars coming out of the site on to Nutbourne Road – ‘a typical narrow, winding Sussex road’.

It was a view shared in many of the dozens of objections received by the council, including one from Pulborough Parish Council.

Mrs van der Klugt said the safety of the turning had been a long-standing one and she had ‘an uneasy feeling’ that the issue was being ‘brushed under the carpet’.

Describing the junction as ‘terrifying’, she added: “The main point about safety here is the nature of the access itself. It’s the configuration of the location of the lane meeting the road which is the danger.

“It means that every single time a person leaves the site by car or other form of transport, that person is at real risk of a collision occurring because of inadequate visibility.

“It only takes a juxtaposition of events – someone approaching over the brow of the hill coming round the bend and someone leaving the site – for a serious collision to occur.”

A report from the West Sussex Highways said it could not justify an objection on visibility grounds ‘given that the access has operated for some time without evidence of highway safety concern’, adding that no injury accidents had been recorded in the area over the past five years.

Others disagreed, saying there had been accidents in the area, even if no injuries had been reported.

The council does not have the required five-year supply of gypsy/traveller sites and there were concerns from some that ‘misgivings’ about the application were being ‘put aside’ because of that.

But chairman Brian Donnelly defended planning officers, saying: “The officers treat these matters purely on evidence, on the rules and regulations, and don’t colour their decision in any way whatsoever.”

The application was refused by 20 votes to zero with one abstention, on the grounds that the poor visibility would affect road safety.

To view the application in full, log on to www.horsham.gov.uk/planning and search for DC/20/2497.