Around 21,000 new homes in North Sussex have been unlocked after a four-year bottleneck due to environmental concerns, the government says.
It says the site in the Arun Valley area has been cleared for development following an agreement between government, regulators and industry – resolving a four-year pause centred on the protection of local wetlands and wildlife.
The housing department says: “Around 4,000 homes that were previously stalled will now proceed while enabling a further 17,000 to be built.”
The move is part of Labour’s target to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament
Natural England had issued a water neutrality order in relation to the Arun Valley in 2021. As a result, new housing developments in parts of Horsham, Crawley and Chichester were paused.
These rules were first introduced across the European Union in 2017, in an effort to stop developers polluting local wetlands and waterways in protected areas when building homes.
Today’s agreement enables development to continue, with building work set to restart on 1 November.
A new agreement signed by the Environment department, Natural England, the Environment Agency and Southern Water, changes water abstraction permits to limit the amount of water taken from local rivers and wetlands, as well as provide funding to restore local habitats.
The deal protects rare species such as the lesser whirlpool ramshorn snail, a unique part of the Arun Valley’s ecosystem.
The government says the changes will be paid for by Southern Water and not by consumers.
Environment secretary Emma Reynolds says: “This breakthrough ends a broken status quo and shows how we can build the homes the community needs while protecting nature.”
Housing and planning Minister Matthew Pennycook adds: “The breakthrough achieved in Sussex North demonstrates how through smart policy interventions we can unlock precisely the kind of win-win for development and nature that this government is committed to achieving.”
Natural England chief executive Marian Spain points out: “We know that people want to live near nature and cases like this, where sound nature regulations prompted innovative solutions, mean we can continue to make that possible.”
Gove had said the move would have allowed an extra 100,000 homes to be built by 2030, delivering an £18bn boost to the economy.
