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Barnards Nursery Rock Road Washington West Sussex

DC/25/1584Permission in PrincipleRefused
Outline / PiP

Refused on 8 December 2025

Council decision: Application RefusedDelegated (officer decision)2 reasons for refusal

Proposal

Permission in Principle for the demolition of existing structures / buildings and erection of up to 4no. dwellings.

Received
26 September 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Ward
Storrington and Washington
Agent
MME Planning Services
  1. Received26 Sep
  2. Validated3 Oct
  3. Consult.13 Nov
  4. Target7 Nov
  5. Decided8 Dec

Decided in 66 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is an outline application for demolition at Barnards Nursery Rock Road Washington West Sussex. Horsham has handled 569 applications of this type. This one was decided in 73 days, 2 weeks longer than Horsham's typical decision time. There has been 1 other application at this address. In the past year there have been 53 applications across Storrington and Washington.

83% of outline applications at Horsham District Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.See what's approved near your address

Why it was refused

  1. The proposed development would be sited within an unsustainable location in the countryside, outside of a defined built-up area boundary, and on a site not allocated for housing development within the Horsham District Planning Framework, or a made Neighbourhood Plan. Furthermore, the proposed development is not essential to its countryside location. Notwithstanding the absence of a five-year land housing supply, and the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024) at paragraph 11(d), it is not considered that there are any material considerations in this instance which would outweigh harm arising from conflict with Policies 2, 3, 4 and 26 of the Horsham District Planning Framework (2015) and Policies 1 and 8 of the Storrington, Sullington and Washington Neighbourhood Plan (2019).
  2. The proposal, by reason of the introduction of up to four dwellings on this rural site, would result in a suburban form and intensity of development that would not reflect the dispersed and low-density pattern of built development in the surrounding countryside. The amount of development proposed would require a layout and residential presence that would appear at odds with the rural character of the area and would erode the open, transitional qualities of the site. The development would therefore result in harm to the character and appearance of the countryside and would fail to conserve or enhance the landscape character of the locality, contrary to Policies 25, 32 and 33 of the Horsham District Planning Framework (2015) and the design and character principles set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (2024). Schedule of plans/documents: Plan Type Description Drawing Number Received Horsham District Council, Albery House, Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 2GB Location & Block plan PAS 388 / 100 26.09.2025

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Application type
Permission in Principle
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Washington PC

Planning application dates

Date validated
3 October 2025
Consultation expiry
28 November 2025
Consultation end
13 November 2025
Neighbour consultation end
6 November 2025
Last date for comments
28 November 2025
Target decision date
7 November 2025

Applicant and agent

Agent
MME Planning Services
Agent address
3 Bowness Close Ifield Crawley West Sussex RH11 0SN

Planning decision

Statutory period
35 days

Publicity

Site notice end
28 November 2025

Additional information

Documents
44
Constraints
9

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations at the address point. Ones next to the site may also apply.

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)
Also checked, none recorded (24)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Horsham

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