VIDEO: Broadbridge Heath feels ‘hammered’ by development as it faces 165 more homes

Developers Gleeson submitted an application last year to Horsham District Council for the properties and a 60-bed care home on land north of old Guildford Road.

But residents are furious at the latest plans for housing, on top of large-scale development south of Broadbridge Heath and West of Horsham.

More than 750 residents have signed a petition against the scheme, with only three voicing their support.

Ian Dempsey, who lives in Old Guildford Road, said: “The application was the final straw. There was already so much housing proposed. To have something on a greenfield site was unacceptable.”

Work has already started on the two-large scale developments either side of the A24, while HDC’s proposals for the redevelopment of the Broadbridge Heath Quadrant contain up to 200 apartments.

Six months ago Mr Dempsey set up a Facebook page to raise awareness of all the development going on as villagers felt ‘hammered’ by all the housebuilding.

“The nail in the coffin was the Gleeson proposal,” he said.

“The field here is the last green space in Broadbridge Heath where you do not have to cross a major road to get to it.”

Sue Sturt, who also lives in Old Guildford Road, understood that HDC was being pushed by the Government to increase housebuilding, but she highlighted recent events where Christian Mitchell was removed as chairman-elect by his own group at a meeting last month.

She said: “We have got a Conservative council now who if anybody opposes it they have secret meetings and get them off the council, like our deputy chairman has been sacked because he stood out against the North Horsham development.”

She added: “It’s a lovely place to live and we do not want it spoiled for the rest of the village.”

Objections include the access arrangements, rat running through the village and congestion on the Farthings Hill roundabout, and the loss of amenity space.

Mr Dempsey thought there were plenty of brownfield sites available before greenfields were lost to new homes.

For more information visit www.keepbbhgreen.org.uk