ePetition details
Access to Highwood Estate off 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.