Councillors approved both plans for fields south of the A264 at Copthorne Common: up to 86 homes, voted 9-1, and a 101-unit retirement village, 10-0.

Both plans for the fields west of Courthouse Farm at Copthorne Common have been given outline planning permission.

Mid Sussex District Council’s district planning committee approved them on 15 October. The minutes, published on 28 October, record the votes:

Scheme Reference For Against Abstained
Extra-care retirement village, up to 101 units, with a community pavilion DM/25/3020 10 0 2
Up to 86 homes DM/25/3021 9 1 2

Both were approved “subject to the recommendations set out in the report and as amended in the Agenda Update Sheet”. The site is south of the A264 Copthorne Common Road, outside the village’s built-up boundary. Both schemes come from the same applicant, Option Two Development Ltd.

Two permissions for the same fields

The two applications cover the same land. In practice only one can be built. The approvals give the landowner a choice of schemes, not 187 new homes.

Both are outline permissions. Only the new access from Copthorne Common Road was decided. Layout, design and scale need a further application, called reserved matters.

Councillor Phillips, the chairman, declared that he had known one of the speakers for 35 years. The minutes record that he had not discussed the sites with them.

Why they were approved

The officer reports accepted that both schemes conflict with the Copthorne Neighbourhood Plan. They gave that conflict “very limited weight” because the council “is currently unable to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites”. Worth Parish Council objected to both. Our story before the meeting sets out the reports and the objections in full.

The homes scheme must provide 30% affordable housing, which is 26 homes. The retirement scheme report requires none, because it counts as care accommodation.

Not yet final

Permission is not issued until a legal agreement, a section 106, is signed. That agreement secures the payments for local schools, East Grinstead Library, transport and Copthorne’s sports grounds. The officer reports allow either scheme to be refused if it is not signed by 15 January 2027.

On 30 October the council’s planning portal still listed both the homes scheme and the retirement scheme as “Awaiting decision”.

What it means for you

If you live in Copthorne, the principle of building on these fields is now settled. The next chance to comment is the reserved matters application, which will show the layout, the house types and the landscaping. It will appear on the planning portal under a new reference.

The same meeting agreed a £255,000 cut to the affordable housing payment at Maxwelton House in Haywards Heath, about ten miles south. Other schemes across the district are on our Mid Sussex planning news page.