Decision due on Homes England's plan for 375 homes south of Haywards Heath in Hurstwood Lane

The outline application from Homes England, for Hurst Farm, in Hurstwood Lane, includes a primary school, burial ground and allotments.

It will be put to the planning committee on Thursday (August 10), with officers recommending it for approval.

The 33-hectare site was bought from the council by the government housing agency in 2021 and, although an application had been supported back in 2018, formal planning permission was never granted.

As part of the land crosses the district boundary into Lewes to the east, a duplicate planning application has been submitted to Lewes District Council for consideration.

If the application is approved, the site will be split into four parcels.

The first will be in the north-western corner where some 59 homes will be built, with access directly off the northern end of Hurstwood Lane.

The second will be separated from the first by the existing Hurstwood Grange access and sits immediately south of the adjoining business units.

The plan is to build 94 homes there, with access from the southern corner of the plot.

The third parcel to the south will hold around 146 homes between the open space and the rear boundaries of the Rocky Lane housing to the west.

And the fourth will be on the eastern side of Hurstwood Lane, where around 76 homes will be built.

The burial ground will be to the south of the fourth parcel of land, with the allotments and a new country park to the east.

The council has received 140 objections to the application, with a lengthy list of concerns being raised.

They included the ‘objectionable’ loss of green-field land and ‘irreversible damage to ecosystems’, the increase in traffic and a traffic survey being ‘out of date’, and noise and disturbance from the new homes alongside air and light pollution.

A report to the committee said: “The development proposed a number of off-site improvement works to various junctions and proposes three new signalised pedestrian crossing points – two on Rocky Lane and one on Fox Hill.

“The development would also have a travel plan to promote more sustainable transport choices for both the residential element of the scheme and the new school.”