I am emailing you as our response to the Chichester Local Plan Review 2035 Preferred Approach Consultation December 2018 and SA10 Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council Response. We are presently out of the country and have had problems accessing the Portal on the Councils Website. Similarly as we are overseas we have had difficulty in phoning in. We have been able to access the internet today so hope our response will still be considered.

We have read the Chichester Local Plan Review 2035 Preferred Approach and have read Chidham and Hambrook Parish Councils response SA10 Chidham and Hambrook. We agree with the response of the Parish Council most notably in the following areas:

1. Transport. We have concerns that the proposed number of housing developments in the areas West of Chichester from Southbourne to Fishbourne will very significantly increase the traffic in the area and particularly the A259 by unsustainable amounts. This is likely to have a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of residents in the area, not least from increased traffic fumes and congestion resulting from of an increased number of cars. The A259 is not sufficient to provide for the increased traffic levels resulting from the plan. There is no mention of any new slip road or junction on/off the A27 between Emsworth and Fishbourne to reduce the negative impact of increased traffic local to this area. The plan talks of encouraging people to use public transport. What is a significant oversight in the plan is the lack of affordability and the present infrequency of public transport links in this area. This makes an increased take up of bus and train services highly unlikely and traffic pressure on the A259 will increase directly in line with the population density.
2. Surface Flood Water. We have concerns that developments on present agricultural land will push surface rainwater to communities on the Chidham Peninsula south of and near to the A259. The plan states that developments would need to keep risks of flooding to 1 in 100 year events but how will this happen in practice? What compensation will be available for established properties that may flood from this diversion of rain water to cause surface floodwater?
3. The plan for 500 new houses for Chidham and Hambrook appears to be out of scale to the existing environment and infrastructure and risks merging the villages along the route.
4. The local primary school in Chidham is at capacity and primary school provision to meet the needs of increased housing needs to be addressed along with the infrastructure to support it. The present site is already causing issues with traffic at school drop off/pick up and school event times.