Fields South Of Folders Lane Are Opened Up For Housing As Keymer Road Development Wins At Appeal!

Planning permission has been granted via the appeals process and will see Greenacres on Keymer Road demolished and replaced with 7 new homes.

The planning inspector easily dismissed all the reasons laid out by Mid Sussex District Council's planning committee for why the scheme should have been rejected; it makes your reporter wonder how the committee got it so wrong.

There had been lots of local opposition to the application, with the South Of Folders Lane Action Group the chief opponents. Hundreds of objection letters submitted by their supporters were considered by the MSDC planning committee when the application was originally refused.

On the face of it, you may be thinking that knocking down a large bungalow and replacing it with seven new homes is no big deal, but there's more to this than meets the eye.


The entranace to Greenacres on the east side of Keymer Road - just south of the national speed limit sign.

Behind Greenacres are three fields. They are all owned by Thakeham Homes - who hit the headlines a few years back for illegally chopping down mature trees and removing ancient hedgerows on the land; which they were ordered to replant.

With the demolition of Greenacres given the green light, the new development will see a cul-de-sac put in place, which could eventually be turned into a fully-fledged road running through to the three large fields behind!

The applicant for the site was HPW Homes Ltd, but since the planning permission was granted, the name of the company dealing with the discharge of the various planning conditions is.....Thakeham Homes!

(Interesting fact: The previous name for HPW Homes Ltd was 'YOU WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO BLOW THE BLOODY DOORS OFF LTD')



The site of Greenacres and the three fields directly behind it.


According to the South Of Folders Lane Action Group, there are 16 fields between Folders Lane and Wellhouse Lane with the capacity to build around 1,000 homes on them.

They point out that if all these houses are built, this could lead to:

• NO school place for your child at your preferred school
• 1,500 extra cars in this area resulting in traffic jams & long delays
  
• Longer waiting times for Doctor and Dentist Appointments
  
• 2,500 additional residents in this area of town
  
• Risk of flooding through surface run off and insufficient drainage

Another 1,000 home are currently being constructed nearby on land east of Kings Way and at the former Keymer Tiles site by Cants Lane.


The Future Looks Bleak For the South East Of Burgess Hill

With the combination of the District Plan not yet being in place, no 5 year land supply document, the Burgess Hill Neighbourhood Plan not covering this area - thus all the policies in the plan not counting, AND the fact that the District Plan examiner has said 1,026 new homes are needed per year up until 2031 instead of the 800 proposed by MSDC, then it looks very likely that this area of green land is indeed a prime contender for redevelopment in the not too distant future.

The next big test is the appeal taking place from March 14th for the field owned by Jones Homes on which they are looking to build 72 new homes next to Ridgeview Wine Estate. If the appeal is upheld, then expect the floodgates to open for more applications in the immediate area.

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It must be noted that there are plenty of residents who would welcome as much new housing as possible and don't feel that the fields south of Folders Lane should be particularly protected over any other part of Burgess Hill. This article is not anti-new homes, but is written to inform readers of the current situation in the area and the state of the planning process in Mid Sussex.
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Got an opinion on this story? Leave a comment below.....
What do you think to the possible mass residential development on 16 fields south of Folders Lane? Do you think these fields should be protected? Can the immediate local area cope with the addition of a possible 1,000 new homes and 2,500 extra residents?