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Farmer rejects £275m offer from housing developers

Adam Williams
Written By:
Adam Williams
Posted:
Updated:
11/05/2015

A farmer in Surrey has rejected a £275 million pound offer from housing developers for his land.

A farmer in Surrey has rejected a £275 million pound offer from housing developers for his land.Robert Worsley, a 48-year-old farmer, was offered the cash by property developers who wanted to build a small town on his land.

His farm is located in West Sussex and housebuilding agents Mayfield had offered £275 million for his 550 acres of land, according to the Daily Mail.

“We are a rural community who don’t want this development, who don’t want to see Sussex ruined,” he told the newspaper.

Worsley said developments of this side had the potential to diminish the ‘enjoyment of the countryside’ for other people.

He added: “I hope I am speaking for an awful lot of people who would have their quality of life diminished.”

Other farmers in the local areas are said to have been offered similarly large sums to allow developers to move in.

His farm is located between Henfield and Burgess Hill, north of Brighton and on a key commuter route to London. The offer is said to be 10 times the value of the farm land.

“It’s not really about me. It’s about the fact that Sussex is being eroded away. That is the story I would like to tell,” he said.

“This presumption that we can just sell Sussex off as if it were gold reserves – we can never get it back.

“Long after I have gone, Sussex will be spoiled. I will be one of the architects of that and that is what I want to resist.

“I thought the money involved might eclipse a lot of people’s judgement. But not so.”


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