ePetition details

Access to Highwood Estate off Hills Farm Lane

We the undersigned petition the council to Provide vehicular access from Highwood to Hills Farm Lane.

HDC planning state that Highwood should be integrated with Horsham and should reflect the needs of the communities in terms of facilities
and services and that the development should maximize opportunities for sustainable travel, including reducing the dependency of the car by providing suitable access to local facilities and services, providing high quality passenger transport links to the town centre and Horsham rail station, and be convenient between the development and local facilities i.e. doctors surgeries, schools, bars,restaurants, recreational facilities etc.

Since access to Hills Farm has been closed, Residents of Highwood feel disconnected with Horsham and the facilities that we use on a daily basis. The new entrance to Highwood off the A24 has definitely not maximized any opportunity for sustainable travel. Residents feel this is 100% unsustainable and wasteful. We are now even more dependent on our cars to access local facilities and services. The link off the A24 to town or the station is by no means a high quality transport link as this now costs us more in fuel and time. Having to pay money in fuel and running costs of our cars and personal time is by no means sustainable and goes against HDC planning policy and aims.


One of the visions of planning was that the roads do not present a significant barrier to the integration of communities and the access to services / facilities.

The closing off of access to Hills farm lane is definitely a significant barrier to access services and facilities.
Parents are now having to drive further to take children to school.
A significant number of Highwood residents commute into London on a daily basis. We experience problems daily with Southern Rail and now it takes us an extra 10 minutes to drive to the station. A taxi fare was once £7 but is now £14. Not sustainable at all.

We therefore appeal to HDC planning to provide vehicular access to Hills Farm for Highwood residents.

Started by: Derrick Barendse (Highwood Residents)

This ePetition ran from 10/12/2017 to 22/01/2018 and has now finished.

269 people signed this ePetition.

Council response

The e-petition requests that the access to the Highwood development across Boldings Brook from Hills Farm Lane be re-opened to residents. It is the view of those who signed the petition that the said access should remain open to allow residents a quicker and more direct route to Horsham Town via Hills Farm Lane and Guildford Road.
It is acknowledged that the new bridge across Boldings Brook has been used as the primary access for residents to the early stages of the Highwood development whilst the main site entrance via the new junction on the A24 to the west of the site was completed. As the main site access has now been fully completed and opened, the bridge across Boldings Brook has been closed to vehicular traffic with the exception of emergency vehicles.
The West of Horsham strategic site (which includes east and west of the A24) was allocated for development in Horsham’s Local Plan in 2007 and detailed design guidance relating to how the site would need to come forward, including a masterplan and Supplementary Planning Document, was published in 2008. The subsequent planning applications needed to demonstrate compliance with these documents. The documents can be found through the following links:
https://www.horsham.gov.uk/planningpolicy/planning-policy/detailed-planning-guidance
https://www.horsham.gov.uk/planningpolicy/planning-policy/detailed-planning-guidance/supplementary-planning-guidance
It has always been a requirement of the Highwood development that all vehicular access be via the new A24 junction only, with exception permitted only for the very early stages of the development whilst the highway infrastructure on the A24 was completed. The restriction on access across the bridge was set out in the site masterplan and secured within the legal agreement for the development under the outline planning permission DC/09/2138, with the option to trigger the restriction confirmed at detailed design stage under reserved matters permission DC/10/0006, where a condition was imposed requiring the downgrading.

The sustainability of the site was a key consideration in allocating the wider site for development and assessing the outline and reserved matters application. The focus for integrating the site with the wider Horsham area has been through sustainable modes of transport with the creation of new links through the river corridor linking to Hills Farm Lane, the new bridge over the A24 and the creation of bus links, which will come forward as the development progresses.
The closure of the bridge to vehicular traffic has consistently been supported by Horsham District Council, West Sussex County Council as the Highway Authority, Denne Neighbourhood Council and by the developer in order to avoid traffic movements through the site and onto Hill Farm Lane. Such movements would both significantly increase traffic volumes along Hills Farm Lane and at the Guildford Road junction and harm the amenities of residents on both sides of the bridge. It should be noted that the transport modelling considered as part of the site allocation was focused on the main access being from the A24.
Whilst the Council appreciates the convenience that opening the bridge to residential vehicles would bring, it remains of the view that the restriction on the use of the bridge must remain in place to meet the key objectives of the site allocation and the masterplan, to ensure an acceptable impact on the highway network is maintained and to protect the amenities of residents on both sides of Boldings Brook.
Notwithstanding the above position I have asked the Team Leader of the Major Applications Team Adrian Smith to investigate the ability of emergency vehicles to enter the site through this access. This will involve discussion with WSCC as the highway authority.
I appreciate this may not be the answer that you are seeking however I hope it is of assistance in understanding our position.