Woodside Equestrian Centre Forest Road Colgate West Sussex RH12 4TF

DC/26/0206Full ApplicationRefused

Full

Refused on 31 March 2026

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

Proposal

Retention of top surface to majority of existing hardcore area and its use for the parking of vehicles in connection with the use of the equestrian centre and re-siting of lorry containers onto historic hardsurfaced area (Retrospective)

Received: 5 February 2026
Decision level: Delegated (officer decision)
Council: Horsham District Council
Ward: Colgate and Rusper

ReceivedReceived5 Feb
ValidatedValidated5 Feb
Consult.Consultation17 Mar
TargetTarget Date2 Apr
DecidedDecided31 Mar

Decided in 54 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is a full planning application at Woodside Equestrian Centre Forest Road Colgate West Sussex RH12 4TF. Horsham has handled 2,753 applications of this type. This one was decided in 54 days. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 95 applications across Colgate and Rusper. We hold 754 applications in total for the RH12 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

The proposed use of the land for the storage of containers and associated commercial activity has not been demonstrated to be functionally or operationally dependent on a countryside location, nor has it been shown to represent sustainable rural economic development in accordance with the development plan. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policies 10 and 26 of the Horsham District Planning Framework (2015).
The proposal would result in the retention of extensive hardstanding and a commercial storage use which introduces urbanising and suburbanising features into a rural and highly sensitive landscape. This results in harm to the character and appearance of the site and the wider area fundamentally from the erosion of the site's rural character and its incompatibility with the key characteristics of the High Weald National Landscape, including its undeveloped, wooded and tranquil qualities. As such, mitigation measures are insufficient to overcome the identified harm. The proposal therefore fails to conserve and enhance the natural beauty and special qualities of the High Weald National Landscape, and is thus contrary to Policies 25 and 30 of the Horsham District Planning Framework (2015) and Paragraph 189 of the National Planning Policy Framework. Schedule of plans/documents: Plan Type Description Drawing Number Received Location plan 1A 05.02.2026 Block plan 2A 05.02.2026 Site plan Proposed 3B 05.02.2026 Horsham District Council, Albery House, Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 2GB

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode: RH12 4TF
Application type: Full Application
Scale / size: Small
Parish: Colgate PC

Planning application dates

Date validated: 5 February 2026
Consultation expiry: 17 March 2026
Neighbour consultation end: 17 March 2026
Last date for comments: 17 March 2026
Target decision date: 2 April 2026

Applicant and agent

Agent: Stephen Jupp MRTPI
Agent address: PO Box 839 Chichester PO19 9XQ

Planning decision

Statutory period: 56 days

Appeal history

6009817

Dismissed

Type: Planning AppealProcedure: Written RepresentationsDecision: 3 September 2026Dev Type: Other minor developmentsReason: refused

Additional information

Planning Portal ID: PP-14660804
Documents: 14
Constraints: 19

Site constraints

Checking the site

2/3

Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

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

National Landscape (AONB): High Weald
Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Also checked, none recorded (23)

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, 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

© 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.

Source: Horsham

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