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Picts Barn Picts Lane Cowfold West Sussex RH13 8AN

DC/25/1960HouseholderRefused

Refused on 17 February 2026

Council decision: Application RefusedDelegated (officer decision)1 reason for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

Installation of Solar Panels.

Received
28 November 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Ward
Cowfold, Shermanbury and West Grinstead
Agent
Octopus Energy Services
  1. Received28 Nov
  2. Validated19 Dec
  3. Consult.13 Jan
  4. Target13 Feb
  5. Decided17 Feb

Decided in 60 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is a full planning application for a solar installation at Picts Barn Picts Lane Cowfold West Sussex RH13 8AN. Horsham has handled 2,753 applications of this type. This one was decided in 81 days, 4 weeks longer than Horsham's typical decision time. The site is in 2 listed buildings nearby. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 79 applications across Cowfold, Shermanbury and West Grinstead. We hold 2,381 applications in total for the RH13 postcode area.

90% of full 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.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. The siting of the solar panels would introduce an inappropriate modern feature that harms the character and appearance of the historic farm complex and fails to preserve the setting of the Grade II listed buildings. The solar panels would have a harmful impact on the special interest of the listed building(s) and would fail to preserve, reflect or enhance its special character and distinctiveness. The are no public benefits which would outweigh the identified harm. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policies 32, 33 and 34 of the Horsham District Planning Framework (2015) and the National Planning Policy Framework. Schedule of plans/documents: Plan Type Description Drawing Number Received Date Supporting Statement Heritage NONE 28.11.2025 Site plan Proposed 04 REV 1 28.11.2025 Roof plan Existing 03 28.11.2025 Site plan Existing 01 REV 1 28.11.2025 Elevation plan Proposed 05 28.11.2025 Roof plan Proposed 06 28.11.2025 Elevation plan Existing 02 28.11.2025 Location plan 00 19.12.2025 Horsham District Council, Albery House, Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 2GB

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
RH13 8AN
Application type
Householder
Scale / size
Small
Parish
Cowfold PC

Planning application dates

Date validated
19 December 2025
Consultation expiry
12 February 2026
Neighbour consultation end
13 January 2026
Last date for comments
12 February 2026
Target decision date
13 February 2026

Applicant and agent

Agent
Octopus Energy Services
Agent address
Neptune Square Block C Floor 3 Brighton BN2 0AT

Planning decision

Statutory period
56 days

Publicity

Advertisement expiry
29 January 2026
Site notice end
12 February 2026

Additional information

Planning Portal ID
PP-14516706
Documents
22
Constraints
10

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

Also checked, none recorded (22)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, 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, 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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