Reject the Cuckstye Development: Stop 1,450 Homes Between Ansty & Cuckfield
The Issue
Mid Sussex District Council said no. Now it’s down to Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
In October 2025, Mid Sussex District Council’s planning committee refused a proposal for up to 1,450 new homes on 100 hectares of countryside between the villages of Ansty and Cuckfield.
Councillors cited the coalescence of the two villages into a single town, loss of trees, and an “unacceptable urbanising impact” on the High Weald landscape.
The developer appealed. And in an unusual move, the Secretary of State for Housing has recovered the appeal — meaning the final decision won’t be made by the planning inspector who heard the evidence at a public inquiry, but personally, by the Secretary of State.
Why this matters:
• 1,450 homes would nearly double the local population overnight
• Ansty and Cuckfield would effectively merge into one town
• 100 hectares of countryside and protected landscape would be lost
• Local roads, schools and health services are already at capacity
Who’s really behind it: Public filings at Companies House trace the applicant, Fairfax Acquisitions Ltd, through a UK parent company to a majority shareholder registered in Cyprus, up to a company named as the ultimate controlling party — a trustee of an offshore trust resident in Jersey. None of this is illegal, but it means the people pushing this development are several steps removed from the village they want to permanently change.
What we’re doing: CRAC (Countryside Resistance Action Collective) is organising residents to formally submit every signature in writing to the department’s Planning Casework Unit — the correct legal channel for a live planning decision like this — backed by a march from Ansty to Westminster to make sure it can’t be ignored.
This is our countryside. This is our community. Please add your name and help us stand up and be counted.
We, the undersigned, ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to reject the Cuckstye development in full and uphold Mid Sussex District Council’s refusal of planning application DM/23/2866. This appeal has been recovered for your personal decision — we’re asking you to use that authority to protect Ansty and Cuckfield from a scale of development this landscape cannot sustain.
1,741
The Issue
Mid Sussex District Council said no. Now it’s down to Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
In October 2025, Mid Sussex District Council’s planning committee refused a proposal for up to 1,450 new homes on 100 hectares of countryside between the villages of Ansty and Cuckfield.
Councillors cited the coalescence of the two villages into a single town, loss of trees, and an “unacceptable urbanising impact” on the High Weald landscape.
The developer appealed. And in an unusual move, the Secretary of State for Housing has recovered the appeal — meaning the final decision won’t be made by the planning inspector who heard the evidence at a public inquiry, but personally, by the Secretary of State.
Why this matters:
• 1,450 homes would nearly double the local population overnight
• Ansty and Cuckfield would effectively merge into one town
• 100 hectares of countryside and protected landscape would be lost
• Local roads, schools and health services are already at capacity
Who’s really behind it: Public filings at Companies House trace the applicant, Fairfax Acquisitions Ltd, through a UK parent company to a majority shareholder registered in Cyprus, up to a company named as the ultimate controlling party — a trustee of an offshore trust resident in Jersey. None of this is illegal, but it means the people pushing this development are several steps removed from the village they want to permanently change.
What we’re doing: CRAC (Countryside Resistance Action Collective) is organising residents to formally submit every signature in writing to the department’s Planning Casework Unit — the correct legal channel for a live planning decision like this — backed by a march from Ansty to Westminster to make sure it can’t be ignored.
This is our countryside. This is our community. Please add your name and help us stand up and be counted.
We, the undersigned, ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to reject the Cuckstye development in full and uphold Mid Sussex District Council’s refusal of planning application DM/23/2866. This appeal has been recovered for your personal decision — we’re asking you to use that authority to protect Ansty and Cuckfield from a scale of development this landscape cannot sustain.
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Petition created on 29 July 2026