Council's plan for homes could be put on pause

A district council's plan for new homes could be paused by a government inspector to allow more information to be gathered.

Horsham District Council's local plan sets out where and when 13,000 new homes would be built up to the year 2040.

The plan, which has been in development since April 2018, is scheduled to be examined over 11 hearing sessions, the first of which was on Tuesday.

On Thursday, government inspector Luke Fleming said he was considering whether a pause might be in order, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

On the same day, the government announced a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework.

While the examination is being carried out under the September 2023 version of the framework, it will need to look at the changes in the new version.

The council will also have to formulate a response to the new framework.

Mr Fleming said: "It's entering my mind whether a pause in the hearing programme may be the best solution for all involved while we gather some further information."

Unless he decides otherwise, hearings will continue during the weeks commencing 16 December, 13 January and 20 January.

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