7.28

Over the coming years, more provision of space for nurseries, high-tech glasshouses, packhouses and reservoirs will be required; however, there will also be an increased need for ancillary development, such as: Vertical Farming Projects, Research & Development Facilities, Alternative Energy Centres, Logistics and Distribution Centres, Engineering and Technical Support Facilities.

The West Sussex Coastal Plain, with its exceptionally high winter light levels and all year round beneficial climate, is the preferred location for horticultural production in the UK.

The Horticultural Industry, concentrated around Chichester and Bognor Regis, generates annual turnover that exceeds £1billion pounds and employs more than 10,000 full time equivalent staff.

The Government has tasked Growers to grow more home grown produce, increase productivity, reduce food miles and the UK’s reliance on imported food. There is also an increasing need for space to grow plants, shrubs and trees. These aims can be achieved; however, the Horticultural and Food Industries need Local Planning Policies to be in place that enables sustainable development. To this end, more flexibility is needed in the current CDC Local Plan - Horticultural Policy to meet the needs of the Horticultural sector.

Reference to ‘ancillary’ in the first paragraph of the policy should be replaced with 'functionally linked' and include explanatory text clarifying that functionally linked uses can include a range of activities including: food-related distribution; food manufacturing linked to the HDAs food preparation; on-site renewable energy to serve on-site activities; and R&D.

The word ‘ancillary’ has proven, over the lifetime of the current adopted local plan, to be restrictive on the ability of the food production businesses at Runcton HDA to undertake beneficial development that would facilitate growth, competitiveness and market-responsiveness. The evolution of the sector, and the expectation of the onward consumer, is increasingly dependent upon co-location of the functions of food production.

The wording of paragraph 7.28 does not take into consideration the need to deliver associated and functionally linked development to support the continued growth and competitiveness of the Chichester Food Cluster located at Runcton HDA.

The current HDA policy is acknowledged within the 2018 HEDNA and the attached Savills SREBR Report as a barrier to growth due to the failure to support functionally associated uses. The importance of associated uses to the cluster is also acknowledged within the Council’s evidence base and other key Government and Industry publications.

Accordingly the Plan should incorporate a more positive and proactive wording of the HDA policy in order to allow for a greater breadth of associated uses within the Runcton HDA. The proposed wording of the policy does not provide sufficient certainty to investors and businesses (both established within Ructon HDA or looking to locate within it) that the Council will support the functionally associated uses that are necessary to foster and maintain the growth and competitiveness of a world-class food cluster.

The Local Plan therefore conflicts with paragraph 81 of the NPPF in its entirety which states:

Planning policies and decisions should help create the conditions in which businesses can invest, expand and adapt. Significant weight should be placed on the need to support economic growth and productivity, taking into account both local business needs and wider opportunities for development. The approach taken should allow each area to build on its strengths, counter any weaknesses and address the challenges of the future. This is particularly important where Britain can be a global leader in driving innovation 42 , and in areas with high levels of productivity, which should be able to capitalise on their performance and potential.