AN ACTION group is urging residents to fight plans for a new town.

A proposal for a new settlement near Henfield called Mayfields Market Town is being considered.

The developer has outlined plans for “a new community comprising 7,000 new homes”, with “state of the art infrastructure, communication hubs and community spaces”.

But now, an action group is encouraging people to object against the new town in a council consultation.

The group Locals Against Mayfield Building Sprawl said: “The new town will have grave consequences for our local infrastructure, ecology, landscape and economy.”

The group says the new town would destroy “thousands of acres of pristine countryside in the Sussex Weald”, and damage the rural way of life of surrounding communities.

The group said the development was “unwanted and unsustainable”, and argued the area has inadequate infrastructure and no railway station.

Speaking out against the plans last year, former Tory MP Nicholas Soames, pictured, said the new town would present local people with the “most appalling problems”.

The Horsham District Local Plan public consultation is open until March 30.