Mims Davies, MP for Mid Sussex, was pleased to welcome Trudy Harrison MP, Minister for Natural Environment & Land Use, to Mid Sussex to discuss our beautiful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Ministers discussed the shared fury that has been expressed from residents over the proposed plans for Cuckfield and Ansty to combine into a new town 'Cuck-stye' infilling between the villages. The Ministers were also joined by Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new Mid Sussex seat, Kristy Adams, and West Sussex County Council Leader, Cllr Pete Bradbury.
The visit started with an AONB Officers Meeting at Ockenden Manor Hotel where they also discussed deer numbers with Jason Lavender (Co-Director - High Weald AONB Partnership) and Hugo Campbell (recipient of Farming in Protected Landscapes grant programme – an experienced estate manager and agent for the Penns Estate)
Mims then took Minister Trudy Harrison to Ansty Village Centre with PPC Kristy Adams and Cllr Pete Bradbury to show her our captivating countryside and how important it is to ensure our Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are protected.
Residents have formed a Stop Cuck-stye Action Group made of a group of concerned local residents from a wide variety of different backgrounds and experiences who have come together to oppose the unwanted, unsustainable and undemocratic building of 1600 houses in a beautiful and iconic landscape.
As Trudy Harrison MP said:
"It is an incredibly beautiful area that is protected for a reason. We have areas of outstanding natural beauty protected because they are vital for people's enjoyment, but also so important for nature as well."
Mims Davies MP said:
“Protecting our precious environment is incredibly important to all of us in Mid Sussex and this is given real weight by the Government’s Environment Act. ‘Cuckstye’ is an inappropriate place for this level of development which would have had a huge impact on the character of the area and local infrastructure”.
I continue to fully support the position of the many unhappy and deeply concerned Mid Sussex residents, including Cllr Malcolm Avery and Cllr Jim Knight, who have approached me over the last 20+ months to raise their significant distress about the proposed extensive development on this site, which, with the potential significant effect on the Parishes and our way of life, is truly untenable.
I’ve previously, and continue to, emphasise the existing infrastructure is already stretched, whether this is services, road networks, our stressed water supplies, NHS, dental and GP services, or our local schools.
As many will already know I wrote in February 2022 in extremely strong terms to the Secretary of State for DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities), the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, on this matter in strong support of the call for change for MSDC housing targets to be reset in consideration of the Mid Sussex environmental and infrastructure constraints, in fact citing this exact potential development to firmly illustrate my point. See this letter here.
