Pre-application stage
Land at Rectory Lane
Taylor Wimpey is preparing an outline planning application for around 120 new homes on land to the north-west of Ashington village.
What's being proposed
- Up to 120 dwellings, including a mix of homes and affordable housing.
- On land at Rectory Lane, to the north-west of the village (RH20 3AS).
- An outline planning application - i.e. it would establish the principle of development; detailed plans would follow as later "reserved matters" applications.
- Sustainable drainage systems, landscaping, walking/cycling connections, public open space.
Source: Taylor Wimpey's consultation website, retrieved May 2026.
What stage is it at?
Taylor Wimpey ran a public pre-application consultation from Monday 27 April to Friday 8 May 2026, with a community webinar on the evening of 27 April. The formal planning application has not yet been submitted to Horsham District Council. When it is, residents will have a 21-day window to object.
Why this site has come up before
This is not the first time this land has been put forward. The site is part of a broader area of land north-west of the village that was previously promoted as a single ~452-home proposal called the "Glebe Land Northern Cluster", jointly by Devine Homes, Taylor Wimpey and the Diocese of Chichester.
That proposal was formally rejected by Horsham District Council in its Reg 19 Site Assessment Report Part IV in December 2023. HDC's stated reasons included: cumulative impact unsustainable for a "medium village"; not allocated in the made Neighbourhood Plan; water-neutrality concerns; and the absence of a GP service in the proposal.
The same area was also rejected during the village's own site selection for the Neighbourhood Plan ("Site 10: North of Rectory Lane", in the Final Site Selection report by Navigus Planning, 9 July 2018). The reason given there was that the site is "too far from the community cluster compared with other sites".
Where this fits in the wider picture
Taylor Wimpey and Devine Homes have also jointly submitted a formal Examination Statement (Matter 8.20, 22 November 2024) at the HDC Local Plan Examination, asking the Inspector to allocate the same broader land for 400–500 homes. The 120-home outline application is, on the developer's own admission, part of land controlled by two major housebuilders that "could be brought forward expeditiously."
The Devine Homes proposal at Billingshurst Road is the parallel application from the same consortium.
What residents can do
The pre-application consultation has now closed. The next opportunity to formally object will come when Taylor Wimpey submits the planning application to HDC and HDC publishes it on the planning portal. There will then be a 21-day public-comment window. Get a text alert when that happens.