Delay hits plans for thousands of new homes on land north of Horsham

Landowners Legal & General revealed today that they had hoped by now to have started main access works for the development which will see 2,750 homes built, along with a new school - Bohunt Horsham - and a business park. sports hub and new pedestrian, bicycle and road connections.

A spokesman said: “As you can imagine, Covid-19 has impacted our ability to progress certain aspects of our work.

“We are in the process of reviewing our overall strategy for delivery at Horsham given the challenging situation we are currently all facing.”

But the company says that much of its focus “continues to be on supporting the delivery of the new Bohunt Horsham School, which is being delivered by the Department for Education.

“We are excited to have such a great facility being delivered at such an early stage of the development and continue to work with a range of partners to service the school land for opening.

“Our team is currently progressing plans for the main access works and utilities, including a sub-station, foul pumping station and other critical infrastructure for the school.

“We also continue to progress our vision for the first phase of the development.

“The first phase is in the centre of the overall development, accessed off the A264, and we are keen to establish a community from the outset that is welcoming, inclusive and built to last.

“We are in the process of finalising our Design and Landscape Strategy, which will set out our vision for design and quality, place making and scene setting, and will be a useful tool to help provide governance and control to ensure the vision is delivered over the lifetime of the phase.

“In time, further documents will be produced for the second and third phases.”

As master developer, Legal & General says it “will deliver the main public areas of the development, including roads, green spaces and community facilities.

“The team also manages the way in which the land is sold to housing developers, which ensures consistency and coherence, given that the new homes and commercial buildings will be built by different housebuilders and contractors.

“The Design and Landscape Strategy will ensure these meet our quality and design aspirations for the site.”

Originally, Legal & General had hoped its first phase either side of Rusper Road and would see around 1,000 homes completed over the next five years, with the target of people first moving in by late 2021.

The company says it will now, as soon as itisable, provide an updated timeline to confirm how and when the works will come forward.

Meanwhile it has appointed Sammie Bryans as development director and Will Sendell as development manager to lead the project forward.

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