Eton College at centre of planning row over plans for new town in village unchanged for 1,000 years

Eton College owns the land at the centre of plans for a new town, known as North Barnes, in East Sussex, which could see up to 3,000 homes built across 450 acres of countryside.

The proposed development would sit between Plumpton Green and South Chailey, with plans also including shops, a school, healthcare facilities and new jobs.

But the proposals have sparked fierce opposition from people living nearby.

The land is owned by Eton College, the school where Prince George started this week, and the plans are being brought forward by Welbeck Land.

Local MP James MacCleary has strongly opposed the scheme, warning the area does not have the infrastructure to cope with thousands of new homes.

He said: “The detrimental impact it would have on the community is enormous.”

Mr MacCleary said the proposed site currently has limited road and infrastructure.

“It has none of the infrastructure to support anything resembling that many houses,” he said.

He also raised concerns about local services, including healthcare, water, sewage and electricity.

He said: “We’ve had problems with water supplies, sewage being dumped into our rivers, electricity supply, 5G, 4G coverage. Everything is a struggle for a site like that."

The MP said the site had previously been ruled out by the district council during its local plan process.

“The District Council ruled this out of their local plan on the basis that they felt it wasn’t a feasible site to build that many houses on,” he said.

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And he said local opposition is strong.

“Local people are very strongly against it, they understand the impact it will have on their community, and I absolutely stand with them," he said.

East Chiltington is currently a small rural village on the edge of the South Downs, where the new town is being proposed.

Mary Synes, Vice Chair of East Chiltington Parish Council, says the character of the village has remained largely unchanged for centuries.

“The village hasn’t changed in probably 1000 years,” she said. “Farmsteads are in the Domesday Book, sheep droving lanes and field patterns are very much as they were all those years ago.”

She warned a new settlement of thousands of homes would fundamentally alter the area.

“A new town plonked in the middle would seriously disrupt the local area,” she said.

Around 400 people live in the village, made up of roughly 200 households.

Mary described it as “a very close-knit farming community".

She said that if plans were to go ahead, “It would be extremely disappointing and unnecessary. It’s the wrong scheme in the wrong place.”

Campaign group Don’t Urbanise the Downs is also fighting the proposals, warning the development would transform the rural landscape.

The North Barnes Partnership said: “Concentrating new homes and infrastructure in a single location is the best way to meet the area's needs and can deliver far more benefits than piecemeal development.”

"Developable land outside the South Downs National Park is scarce. Brownfield sites alone cannot meet local housing needs. These plans offer one of the best opportunities to create sustainable growth in Lewes district, close to a well-connected rail station.”

The plans remain at an early stage, with a planning application expected later this year.

The developer said: “We are committed to genuine consultation with the community and want as many people as possible to take part.”

For now, the proposals are out to public consultation, but there is already fierce disagreement over what the future of this corner of East Sussex should look like.

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