The proposals for a new neighbourhood west of Bewbush complete with power plant, medical centre, nursery school, and retail and office space were developed in conjunction with Crawley Borough Council.

At a meeting last night (Thursday March 27), district councillors voted to publish documents detailing their plans, which will now go out for a six-week period of representations beginning on March 30.

The decision, subject to agreement by Crawley Borough Council, which meets to debate the proposals April 9 paves the way for large-scale development in three phases between 2011 and 2016.

In an unusually brief 40-minute meeting, in which the public gallery was virtually empty aside from a delegation from Crawley, Tory and Lib Dem councillors united in praise of the work done with Crawley.

Council Leader Liz Kitchen said: "From my point of view it has got to be done, and the joint working with Crawley has been very successful, and has made a very unpleasant situation more bearable."

Lib Dem Sally Horner said: "What a positive experience I found the west of Crawley joint working.

"Although we have been talking about foisting 2,500 houses on a community, quite a lot of good has come out of it."

Watch the website and read next week's paper for a detailed report on the mass development.

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