TDC Local Plan 24-44

As part of Tandridge District Council's Local Plan 2024-2044, sites were put forward by developers and land owners.  The next step is for TDC to assess each site's suitablility.  Felbridge Parish Council's response to each of the development sites in Felbridge (below) has been submitted to TDC.  The response concentrates on the material considerations impacting Felbridge.  The lack of infrastructure; traffic congestion at and around the Star Junction and the impact on Green Belt land.   Residents are welcome to reproduce any of the content within their own response.  The email address for responses is localplan@tandridge.gov.uk. The submissions deadline is 2 September 2026.

Overview

Felbridge is a Tier 4 settlement with limited infrastructure, congested roads, no rail station and a limited bus service.  Felbridge Parish comprises circa 1000 properties.  A further 332 have been built, or are under construction, on Sussex land off Felbridge roads in the past five years.  

FEL001 Land Opposite Doves Barn and Nursery

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

Traffic on the A264 Copthorne Road heading towards the Star Junction regularly queues back to Doves Barn Nursery immediately facing this proposed site.

We note that the preliminary assessment of all these sites states that they will utilise facilities in East Grinstead and will therefore be highly reliant upon private car travel through the Star junction. While the 291 and 400 bus services pass the site, the 291 bus service is limited to one bus an hour in each direction Monday-Friday and finishes early evening on weekends. On Sundays, there are only six buses in total in each direction. The 400 bus service is one bus every half hour on average on weekdays.  On Saturdays, the service finishes at 8.00pm and on Sundays there are fewer buses and the service finishes at 6.00pm. There are no bus lanes between Felbridge and East Grinstead so buses also have to use the congested Star Junction.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

FEL002 Land to the North of Crawley Down Road

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

The site is near to a bus stop for the 281 bus service, however the service is limited to one bus an hour on average on weekdays with only four buses in total on a Sunday with the last bus into East Grinstead leaving at 1620.  On Saturdays, the last bus into East Grinstead is at 1840.  There is mention of the other two bus services which run on the A264 but the timings are similar in some cases and there is still a restricted weekend service and no evening service.  There are no bus lanes between Felbridge and East Grinstead so buses also have to use the congested Star Junction.

The SA19 MSDC development for 200 properties is currently under construction on land south of Crawley Down Road 300m from this proposed site.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

FEL003 Land at Roseleigh, Effingham Road/West Park Road

This site is situated further from the Star junction, but the preliminary assessment presented in the Local Plan again refers to the facilities at East Grinstead and the lack of a regular local bus service and will therefore be highly reliant upon private car travel through the Star junction. 

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

FEL004 Merriewood Barn, Land south of Southern Water Compound, Copthorne Road

While the proposed B8 use of this site is unlikely to significantly impact vehicular traffic through the Star junction above its current use, it is sited immediately adjacent to the Site of Special Scientific Interest Nature Reserve.

FEL005 Felbridge Showground, Copthorne Road

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

We note that the preliminary assessment of all these sites states that they will utilise facilities in East Grinstead and will therefore be highly reliant upon private car travel through the Star junction. While the 291 and 440 bus services pass the site, the 291 bus service is limited to one bus an hour in each direction Monday-Friday and finishes early evening on weekends. On Sundays, there are only six buses in total in each direction. The 400 bus service is one bus every half hour on average on weekdays.  On Saturdays, the service finishes at 8.00pm and on Sundays there are fewer buses and the service finishes at 6.00pm.

Felbridge Showground has a planning history that has been supported by evidence of considerable use of the site by a wide variety of horse owners and riders, being attracted there from a considerable distance. This current leisure and recreational use would be a significant loss to the area.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

FEL006 Land between The Laurels and Oakview, London Road

While planning permission has already been granted for three houses, this proposal is for up to 12 houses on the same site. A public footpath runs diagonally across the land.  A previous application for ten properties was refused and the appeal dismissed (2015/560).  

If more than 6 dwellings were to be built upon the site, then the footpath is bound to be very close to multiple properties, if they are freehold detached dwellings, then the inspector's views regarding the impact upon privacy as a result of the public footpath would be a material consideration and would probably prevent the site from delivering the intended 12 dwellings. If more than 6 dwellings were to be built upon the site, then the footpath is bound to be very close to multiple properties, if they are freehold detached dwellings, then the inspector's views regarding the impact upon privacy as a result of the public footpath would be material consideration and would probably prevent the site from delivering the intended 12 dwellings. The net benefit of only delivering +3 dwellings (over and above the 3 already approved) vs the negative impact upon the openness of the Green Belt is likely to weigh against this site in supporting the TDC housing shortfall, which should prioritise larger, better integrated sites that deliver more housing whilst limiting the loss of Green Belt land.

The Metrobus website shows that the 485 is the only service to run along the A22 in the direction of Lingfield.  The nearest bus stop to the proposed site is The Old Pheasantry which is accessed via a narrow footpath along Woodcock Hill.  The service runs from that stop to the Snow Hill crossroads and return only three or four times a day between Monday and Friday only.  There is no service at weekends or on bank holidays.  There is no option to change to a different service at Snow Hill since the times don't correlate with other services. It is therefore impossible to use public transport to access Lingfield, Caterham or Godstone. 

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

FEL007 Merriewood Barn, Land south of Southern Water Compound, Copthorne Road

While the proposed B8 use of this site is unlikely to significantly impact vehicular traffic through the Star junction above its current use, it is sited immediately adjacent to the  Site of Special Scientific Interest Nature Reserve.

FEL008 Long Acres Caravan & Camping Park, Newchapel Road

This site is situated off Newchapel Road so further from the Star junction, but the preliminary assessment presented in the Local Plan refers to the facilities at East Grinstead and the lack of a regular local bus service and states that 'the proposed leisure development would likely generate a high level of trips' and thus is likely to have a negative impact upon the Star junction.

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

FEL009 Long Acres Caravan & Camping Park, Newchapel Road

This site is identical to FEL008, but at a smaller proposed development.  However the preliminary assessment still states it 'would likely generate a high level of trips', and thus the inclusion of these sites should not be considered sound until mitigation of the Star junction has been demonstrated.

In 2018, Surrey Highways declared the Star Junction (A22/A264) 'severe', since then Hill Place Farm (200 dwellings) has been completed and fully occupied which was dependent upon improvements at the Star junction which have not been delivered. A further 132 dwellings have been constructed and occupied in Mid-Sussex along Copthorne Road & Crawley Down Road which stated that their highways impact would be mitigated by the improvements delivered by the Hill Place Farm scheme.

Now MSDC site allocations SA19 (200 dwellings) and SA20 (550 dwellings) either side of the Star junction have been approved and SA19 is currently being sold; the highways impact of these allocations was to be mitigated by a joint MSDC/TDC/WSCC/SCC study of the A22/A264 (the Corridor Project). The Corridor Project has not yet published any recommendations for improvements, let alone implemented any changes to demonstrate that they are able to reduce the Star junction below its severe congestion status once all these local houses built since 2018 are occupied. It is therefore not sound to include proposed sites which would have an additional impact upon the Star junction until such time as the Corridor Project has implemented improvements and demonstrated that the junction congestion can be reduced below 'severe'.

This site is unsustainable and sits outside the settlement boundary of Felbridge within the open Green Belt.  

Felbridge Parish Council, 21 August 2026