Horsham District’s Conservative Councillors will hold an election on Thursday 25th November to elect a successor to Paul Clark as leader of the Conservative Group. The successful candidate will then proceed to be elected as Leader of Horsham District Council at a full Council meeting in December.

We understand that Jonathan Chowen, the principal architect of the proposal to develop Rookwood, is standing together with Chris Brown.

Today, we sent the email below to Conservative Councillors, and we encourage you to do similarly if you feel strongly about securing Rookwood’s future and about balanced representation in the Horsham District Cabinet.

HDC Conservative Councillors Emails

If you wish to make your views known, here are the email addresses of those who can vote:

Kate.Rowbottom@horsham.gov.uk;andrew.baldwin@horsham.gov.uk;john.blackall@horsham.gov.uk;toni.bradnum@horsham.gov.uk; chris.brown@horsham.gov.uk;karen.burgess@horsham.gov.uk; peter.burgess@horsham.gov.uk;philip.circus@horsham.gov.uk; paul.clarke@horsham.gov.uk; ray.dawe@horsham.gov.uk; Brian.Donnelly@horsham.gov.uk; billy.greening@horsham.gov.uk; Tony.Hogben@horsham.gov.uk; nigel.jupp@horsham.gov.uk; elizabeth.kitchen@horsham.gov.uk; lynn.lambert@horsham.gov.uk; richard.landeryou@horsham.gov.uk; gordon.lindsay@horsham.gov.uk; tim.lloyd@horsham.gov.uk; christian.mitchell@horsham.gov.uk; roger.noel@horsham.gov.uk; josh.potts@horsham.gov.uk; stuart.ritchie@horsham.gov.uk; jack.saheid@horsham.gov.uk; jim.sanson@horsham.gov.uk; ian.stannard@horsham.gov.uk; Diana.VanDerKlugt@horsham.gov.uk; claire.vickers@horsham.gov.uk; Tricia.Youtan@horsham.gov.uk; James.Wright@horsham.gov.uk

Keep Rookwood Green Email to Conservative Councillors

Dear Councillor,

It was with regret that we learned of Paul Clarke’s decision to step aside, triggering the second leadership election of the year, because this kind of instability benefits no-one, Councillors or electorate. We understand that Jonathan Chowen, the principal architect of the original plan to build 1,100 homes on Rookwood, is standing and we are concerned that he will use his authority as leader to resume his plan to develop the site and to increase spending beyond the figure of £345,867.18 reported by a recent HDC FoI request.

We have waited patiently for the start of the “wide consultation” on Rookwood’s future promised by Paul Clarke but have seen no evidence of progress. We continue to believe that we can contribute suggestions and ideas that may not have been fully explored previously.

Paul Clarke’s appointment of a cabinet member to represent the interests of Horsham Town was a well-received recognition of the need for a balanced Cabinet view across the whole district and is a position that we are very keen should be retained.

Who you choose as Conservative Leader is completely in your gift, however, we request that you closely question all candidates about their position on Rookwood and make them aware that we stand ready and fully mobilised to resume our campaign if no clear statement on Rookwood is forthcoming from the new leader.