Horsham District Council

The site largely comprised open rough grassland, with some mature trees grouped to the eastern side of the access point with Summerfold.

The application site lies to the south of Summerfold, adjacent to but outside of the built-up area boundary of Rudgwick, a category 2 settlement as defined within the Horsham District Local Development Framework.

Application DC/12/2232 was refused outline planning permission on the grounds: that the development would be located in the countryside outside the built-up area boundary of Rudgwick; that it had not been adequately demonstrated that the development would meet specific local housing needs; that the development would be visually intrusive and detrimental to the landscape.

The subsequent appeal was dismissed in August 2013 on the grounds of a poor layout and lack of clarity in relation to future ownership of trees and landscaped areas.

The Inspector did not find the proposed development of open market and affordable housing on this site to be unacceptable in principle and concluded that the site would be reasonably sustainable in terms of the accessibility of facilities and services.

The Council’s Annual Monitoring Report 2012/2013 (published December 2013) showed that Horsham District did not have a five year supply of housing sites, set against the target set out within the South East Plan (SEP).

A second planning application (DC/14/0878) for the erection of 25 residential dwellings was approved by Horsham in September 2014. The site was sold to Thakeham Homes.