Warnham Nature Reserve’s viability ‘would be threatened’ by homes at Rookwood

The Friends of Warnham Local Nature Reserve is a registered charity and its members work to promote the reserve, organise and run events and raise money for enhancement projects.

Rookwood Golf Course is being promoted as a potential strategic site for up to 1,100 homes, with Horsham District Council owning a large part of the land.

The Friends’ trustees have written an open letter to HDC’s chief executive Glen Chipp outlining their opposition to development at Rookwood and the impact it would have on the reserve.

Their letter said: “Building on Rookwood, as proposed, will clearly damage the reserve and, after several years, likely result in it no longer being viable as a nature reserve.”

The trustees point out how urbanising Rookwood would sever the reserve’s connectivity and wildlife corridors to the countryside and leave it surrounded by development on all sides.

They also highlighted how the case for funding the new discovery hub was built around the reserve being more attractive and popular, but this would be ‘very unlikely if there is a huge adjacent housing development the reserve’s wildlife is driven away or preyed upon by domestic cats’.

The trustees voice support for HDC and Sussex Wildlife Trust’s ‘wilder Horsham district partnership’ whose laudable aims are to help wildlife thrive and create networks of land that are protected and enhanced for wildlife.

But in their view developing Rookwood would be the ‘antithesis of these aims and call into question HDC’s commitment to their new partnership’.

They suggest it would also demonstrate a ‘striking failure to deliver the aims of the council’s green space strategy’.

The letter concluded: “It seems to us that a decision to develop Rookwood can only be made by undervaluing the reserve, which HDC, as both the owner on residents’ behalf and the planning authority, has a duty of care to protect.”

In response a Horsham District Council spokesman said: “The Government is seeking a major increase in the number of houses which are built nationally and there is a legal requirement for Horsham District Council to revise its local plan. This plan specifies , amongst other things, where future housing development could go in the district.

“As part of this process, the council is looking at a range of sites that could be developed. Hundreds of sites have been put forward by developers and the council is required to investigate the potential suitability and deliverability of each one.

“Rookwood Golf Course, on the edge of Horsham town, is one of 500 sites that has been put forward and was included in a public consultation. To be clear none of the 500 sites have yet been allocated. We thank the trustees of Warnham Nature Reserve for their comments which will be considered by councillors when deciding which sites to allocate at the next stage of the local plan process. Drawing conclusions at this stage about what sites the council will eventually allocate is premature.

“Should the site be allocated, then any potential development would need to demonstrate that it can deliver an increase in the current levels of biodiversity on the golf course and that it could be developed in a way that is sensitive and sympathetic to the neighbouring Warnham Local Nature Reserve. It is most important that we would protect and enhance the natural environment and habitats of the reserve.”

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