Utilities and services

Large developments will cause increased pressure on our public utilities, in particular water, which has been a very real problem for the village in the past, during both cold, wet periods and drought. The latest water failure on 23rd January 2024 ranging from no supply at all to low pressure, was due to infrastructure problems (burst pipe between Bolney and supply source). In summer we have experienced interruptions to water supply where bottled water was provided for a large part of the village. Clearly the current population cannot be served sustainably and 200 more houses will put further strain on water supply.

Managing water resources and water quality is key to serving existing and future residents.

Increased risk of flooding is a real concern for villagers. The village is not classified as high risk, but incidents of flooding have occurred and more buildings will create additional run-off to low-lying areas, requiring responsible management and not pushing the runoff problem further downstream, e.g. to low-lying land bordering the A272 including Crosspost.

The electricity supply failed to some parts of the village on 22nd January and to other parts on 23rd January, again another outage to part of the village on 19th February (all 2024). Bolney frequently experiences interruptions to electricity supply and this will deteriorate further by adding more houses and higher demand, especially with increased EV (electric vehicle) charging needs.

Dealing with increased volumes of sewage and additional surface water runoff are particular challenges in a rural area and can have adverse effects on local river systems, particularly in the southern part of the village and beyond, if not managed carefully e.g. by upgrading the sewage station. Changing climate patterns could cause wetter wet seasons which would add to the volume. Simply avoiding building on patches of low-lying land prone to flooding is not enough: addressing the increased runoff generated by housing developments and loss of natural hollows, vegetation and permeability of the land requires a comprehensive approach to prevent problems downstream.

See also Sustainability.