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Worth Parish Council December 2006 |
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Page 2 of 4
Following an address to the Council by Eddie Lord, Copthorne Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Co-ordinator, before the General Puposes and Finance Committee meeting on October 23rd, we were pleased to be able to approve a grant of £100 to the Copthorne NHW. As pressure for grants is growing and we have not changed the amount we budget for grants for some years, our 2007/2008 budget will include an increased amount for grants to enable us to assist even more local organisations.
Many of you may have seen reported in the local press that East Grinstead Town Council has produced an “alternative action plan” concerning the proposed 2,500 housing development there. A copy was sent to your Council and was considered at the meeting of the Planning Committee on November 6th. While paying lip service to “meet the clearly expressed concerns of …..the surrounding villages” the document unfortunately is very “East Grinstead centric” and does not accept that East Grinstead is a part of the larger community. It also states the Town Council’s “conditional support in 2002 to the concept of a strategic housing development” as if there was some reluctance at that time to take the proposed housing whereas the East Grinstead Town Council approached the District Council and asked for the housing to be assigned to East Grinstead! It is not only remiss of them to now indicate that they have had this housing imposed upon them but particularly concerning for Copthorne as the document says “there are sites nearer Crawley/Gatwick but in Mid Sussex that could accommodate significant housing”. Such sites can only be in Worth Parish and, in particular, in Copthorne, mainly between the M23 and the village so that we would become just another suburb of Crawley. Your Council rejects totally such proposals and is indignant that a neighbouring council seeks to blight our village in this manner. Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council also oppose any development in the strategic gap between Copthorne and Crawley. While development as proposed at East Grinstead would bring some increased traffic to the A264 that is a far more acceptable outcome than having 2,000 houses added to Copthorne! Should you wish to have a copy of the East Grinstead Town Council’s document, please contact the Parish Council clerk (see below).
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