Page 18 - MJC submissions

STEPS TOWARDS AN AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS
And stipulations

3 IMPORTANT BACKGROUND

3.1 Ashurst Wood and Neighbourhood
Ashurst Wood is classified in MSDC’s District Plan of March 2018 as a Category 3 village
meaning that it is:

“Medium sized providing essential services of the needs of their own residents and Page | 8
immediate surrounding communities. Whilst more limited, these can include key
services such as primary schools, shops, recreation and community facilities, often
shared with neighbouring communities”.

The neighbouring communities are Forest Row, East Grinstead, Coleman’s Hatch, Upper
Hartfied, Hammerwood and Holtye. It is rare that residents from these communities would
choose to travel to Ashurst Wood to shop, mainly because of serious parking difficulties and
better alternatives.

There is a good argument that Ashurst Wood should be reclassified in Category 4. It is 8 times
smaller in terms of area than the average of Category 3 villages and half the average of
Category 4.

Classifications may not appear important, but they are in one respect and that is because they
reflect the degree of rurality and the expectations for new development. Table 4 summarises
the position, based on the limited data available (See Appendix F1):

Area in ha Area Population People per Number Dwelling
(ha) hectare dwellings per hectare
Category 3 3,216 1.12
Category 4 0.35*
Average in Mid Sussex 33,403 128,000 3.83
Ashurst Wood Parish 251.32 1771- 1,800 7.05 800 3.07
WH 2016 Consultation 0.84 180 214 90 107
WH:EDF (Current) 0.84 142 168 71 84
Integrated development 1.38 232 168 120 84
Spinney Hill 0.57 24 42 6 10.53
Cairo 193
Table 4: Population densities
20
The density of the proposed development is excessive and totally out of character
with Ashurst Wood. It is more typical of an urban ghetto than a rural Sussex village.
On this basis alone, the application breaches many important planning policies and
should be rejected.

Ashurst Wood is bisected by the A22, with its centre lying to the east of what is a very busy
arterial road. There are no pedestrian crossings nor cycle lanes. Crossing the road – by
pedestrians, vehicles, horses and bicycles - is a nightmare.

20 Which sometime vary from figures produced elsewhere in this paper as input is taken from different sources.
The conclusions are consistent