A tiny creature has caused a bit of a stir among campaigners opposed to plans to build thousands of homes West of Ifield.
Ifield resident James MacGregor found what he believes to be a white-clawed crayfish – a protected species – near Ifield Brook Meadows, raising questions about how the proposed housing would impact its habitat.
Homes England has submitted a hybrid application and is waiting for it to be validated by Horsham District Council.
The outline part of the application will cover the 3,000 homes, business, service, storage and industrial buildings, a hotel, community and education facilities, gypsy and traveller pitches, open space and sports pitches, as well as pedestrian and cycle routes.
The full element will cover infrastructure such as the Crawley western relief road (Multi-Modal Corridor), access from Charlwood Road, crossing points, and access infrastructure for the school site and future development.
Opposition to the plans has been fierce, with campaigners preparing their objections for submission once the application is tabled.
The impact on wildlife such as bats, badgers, dormice and owls is already among the concerns they plan to raise – so will crayfish be added to that list?
Cathy Durrant, of Save West of Ifield, said: “We are aware of James’ potential find and it is a new one to us as we haven’t heard of it being found in the area before, but do not purport to be aquatic experts in any way!
“We are going to try to have the finding independently verified and ascertain if it is of national or local significance.
“If this is indeed the case we will, of course, include it in our objections to Homes England’s plans. It’s certainly an exciting possibility.”
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