Limit the allocation of houses to the number of houses currently permitted to this date i.e 144.

Permissions have already been given for 144 homes to be built (2021-2023}. To deliver the Local Plan number of 300 homes, a further 156 homes would be required which is more than Nutbourne and Hambrook could absorb. It should be noted that an additional 248 dwellings are pending Appeal. The Local Plan allocation of 300 homes would increase by 30% the overall number of dwellings in a small, semi-rural location. To put this context the indicative housing number for the Parish in 2014-2019 plan was 25.
There are numerous constraints which would be difficult or impossible to overcome while adhering to policies in the Plan.
Agricultural Land
All the sites identified in the HELAA are green field and the vast majority are viable and productive grade 1 and 2. At a time when food security is so much at risk and our need for self-sufficiency is growing, these need to be preserved. To find sites for a further 156 homes would inevitably mean building on these fields. The HELAA is based on available land, whether or not it is suitable.
Local facilities
These are very limited and more so than adjacent parishes. There is no viable grocery store, medical facilities or sports facilities. Accessing any of these requires a journey, impracticable by public transport and too far for walking. The Primary School is in Chidham,1.2 miles away from the Northern part of Hambrook. There is no public transport north to south. Trains are irregular and infrequent with a service running hourly. The one bus service, along the A259, has recently been reduced to half hourly. Anyone needing to access day to day services will be travelling elsewhere and with the absence of reliable, frequent public transport and the distance required to walk them, these journeys will be made by car. It is therefore not a sustainable location which will reduce the need for car use.
Wildlife and biodiversity
Several sites in the HELAA are within the designated Wildlife Corridors. If Policy NE4 is to be adhered to no development should take place to protect the transit of wildlife and essential connectivity between the SDNP and AONB. Housing with associated noise, lighting and pollution cannot protect and enhance the integrity of any Wildlife Corridor.
Long-distance views
The setting of our villages is characterised by a flat landscape and long-distance views to the SDNP and the Harbour. Locating a further 156 homes on any of our available sites will destroy these views.
AONB and setting
At least half of our parish is in the AONB. Further development will result in increased recreational disturbance and will accelerate the depletion of Chichester Harbour. These impacts cannot be successfully mitigated, particularly when mitigation is allowed off site.
Settlement Boundaries/Gaps
Building 156 further homes will erode our settlement gaps, both between the parish and neighbouring Southbourne, and within the two settlements of Nutbourne and Hambrook. The gaps identified should be respected.
Roads
All new residents will need to access the A259, which is rapidly reaching capacity. Close to 2000 additional homes have been allocated to this corridor. The A27 is already over capacity and the Fishbourne roundabout, which most new residents will use to access the A27, is in need of upgrading. This will not happen before any housing is built resulting in increased peak time delays and a decrease in air quality.
The A259 has inadequate infrastructure for walking or cycling. Cycling lanes are inconsistent, frequently disappearing altogether, and those that are there are too narrow. Cyclists feel increasing unsafe on this busy road.
To reach local facilities would require longer walks than the Government’s suggested 2km to access facilities on foot.
Wastewater
Thornham Wastewater Treatment Plant can currently only connect to 178 new properties (Feb 2023). ‘There is at present no certainty of a deliverable solution for the Thornham catchment and any solution will time to deliver’.(Thornham/CDC Position Statement Nov 201). It is therefore clear that there is not sufficient capacity now or for the foreseeable future.
Southern Water have not yet published their DWMP so there is no guarantee that investment will be available, how much or over what period.
The sewage network is not working now with 256.26 hours of discharges into the Harbour from Thornham since 1 January 2023. This is on top of total releases during the 2022 calendar year of 257.82 hours.(Classified as genuine by the Southern Water Beach Buoy system 14 Mar 2023)
Residents’ consultation
We see it as part of our duty, as a Parish Council representing our residents, to reiterate a very clear message from the detailed consultation we carried out with our residents in the Summer of 2021, where residents indicated consideration concern as substantial increases of houses in the parish.