Residents of a picturesque Sussex village fear it could lose its rural character under proposals for almost 6,000 new homes in the surrounding area.
Set against the South Downs, Hurstpierpoint has attracted high-profile residents, including YouTube millionaire Zoella. Actor Tom Hardy also lives nearby.
However, villagers say the scale of planned housing development could effectively join Hurstpierpoint with neighbouring Hassocks and the town of Burgess Hill, creating what they describe as one continuous “urban sprawl”.
Campaigners in the Domesday Book village, home to around 7,000 people, have begun organising protest marches as they seek to preserve the area’s countryside setting.
“These proposals add up to 5,900 new houses,” said Hurstpierpoint resident Paula Mearns.
“If it goes ahead, the village will lose its identity and become an urban sprawl.
“People move to villages because they want somewhere quiet. But that choice will be taken away from us.”
The proposed housing allocations are set out in a draft Mid Sussex District Plan.
The plan, which remains under review, outlines the district’s long-term housing strategy and reflects the Government’s target to build 1.5 million additional homes across England by 2029.
Ms Mearns said the proposed level of housebuilding around Hurstpierpoint would also place added pressure on local infrastructure.
College Lane – the final green buffer between Hurstpierpoint and Hassocks – could be covered with 109 houses
Campaign group ‘Keep Hurst a Village’ has been formed to oppose the plans
A map taken from the Mid-Sussex District Plan
The campaigners have produced a map showing some of the proposed developments – using information from council maps
‘They build the houses and the infrastructure is coming later – schools, for example, are at capacity.
‘The main fear is infrastructure, and the total abundance of people and cars. It will be utter chaos.
‘Letters have gone out everywhere and we’ve managed to mobilise the whole village in such a short space of time.
‘We’ve just got to fight the hard fight or in a few years time we just were surrounded by a load of houses.’
Included in the plans is a new development of 750 homes spanning the parishes of Burgess Hill, Hurstpierpoint, Sayers Common and Hassocks.
Locals are also frustrated at the return of previously rejected development sites, including a proposal to build on College Lane, the final green buffer between Hurstpierpoint and Hassocks.
An earlier application to build there was rejected in 2013 to protect the boundary between the two villages.
Organiser Laura Galloway described opposition to the Mid-Sussex District Plan as ‘David v Goliath’.
‘We are up against well-resourced developers and a local authority system that seems entirely stacked against residents having a fair say,’ she said.
‘The handling of the public consultation by Mid Sussex District Council has been deeply flawed and, at times, obstructive.
‘When we looked to our elected representatives for support, we were met with a brick wall.
‘We have received little to no formal feedback from our local MP, aside from a dismissive standard line that she does not comment on specific projects.’
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In planning documents, the council said it aimed to create a ‘thriving, attractive and resilient’ local community.
‘Our aim is to maintain, and where possible, improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of our District and the quality of life for all, now and in the future,’ officials stated.
The pleasant centre of Hurstpierpoint, which is home to around 7,000 people
The village’s residents include YouTube power couple Alfie Deyes and Zoe Sugg – better known as Zoella
Another view of the proposed development site at College Green, which would build over fields that serve as a green buffer between two villages
Alison Bennett, the Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex, blamed the Government for the scale of the plans.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘Mid Sussex District Council spent years preparing its District Plan.
‘Sites were assessed, communities were consulted, infrastructure needs were considered and the Plan secured cross-party support from Conservative, Green, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors.
‘Then, late in the examination process, Mid Sussex was told by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate that it needed to accommodate substantially more housing.
‘The Council has had to find additional sites at very short notice, including looking again at sites that were not selected through the original process.
‘The impact is particularly significant in the south of the District, where more than half of the additional housing proposed through the main modifications is located. I completely understand why residents feel this is unfair.
‘I do not think the answer is to pit one community against another and ask residents to argue over which additional site is the least damaging.’
Mid Sussex District Council said Government planning inspectors have not signed off on the local plan.
‘Once the consultation closes, all responses will be sent to the inspector for consideration and published on the examination pages of our website,’ a spokesman said.
Hurstpierpoint is no stranger to planning rows, with locals currently facing off against Zoella – real name Zoe Sugg – after she created a new home for two donkeys behind her £2million mansion.
Villagers want to protect the area’s treasured rural atmosphere. Pictured is the church at Hurstpierpoint seen across a field
A young Hurstpierpoint resident making his views known during a protest
The influencer, better known as Zoella, has rankled some of her well-heeled neighbours after three shepherd’s huts, fencing and gates were installed on a five-acre agricultural plot in the affluent village of Hassocks.
Work on the project – which includes a stable built for Zoe’s adopted animals and new access points to the field – started without planning permission being sought from the local council.
Objectors have since accused the social media star of failing to consult them over her plans and claim the development is harming the ‘character and charm of the area’.
Details of the dispute have emerged in a belated planning application now submitted to Mid Sussex District Council by Zoe, 36, and her YouTuber fiancé Alfie Deyes, 32,
The vlogging power couple are seeking the green light for a secure enclosure covering almost 3,000 square metres, located near their seven-bedroom mansion, where the ‘two local donkeys’ would be able to graze.
Their proposals also include a timber stable, a tractor parking area, a wildlife pond and three shepherd’s huts.
But the scheme has infuriated some residents, who argue that substantial elements of the development were already in place before planning consent was sought.