Chichester Local Plan 2021 - 2039: Proposed Submission
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Chichester Local Plan 2021 - 2039: Proposed Submission
Policy A15 Loxwood
Representation ID: 3827
Received: 23/02/2023
Respondent: Loxwood Society
Legally compliant? Yes
Sound? No
Duty to co-operate? Yes
LPC have produced a revised NP with allocated 125 houses in accordance with CDC Preferred approach Local Plan. Submitted to CDC for regulation 14 consultation in Jan 2021. Held due to Water Neutrality. Letter to parish Jan 2022. 5 growth scenarios. Study completion easter 2022 with consultation. Did not happen.
Actual housing numbers 220 + 91= 311 due cut off date of 1/4/21 and unmet allocation in Made NP.
Parish is rural, very poor transport provision and major sewerage issues. Southern Water will not allow any new connections. Loxwood has no post office and shop thus not a Service village.
Policy A15 should be scrapped and Policies H2 and H3 amended to reflect an allocation of 125 houses
The most efficient way forward would be for the housing allocation for Loxwood to be changed back to the Preferred Approach Local Plan allocation of 125 houses and let the Loxwood Neighbourhood Plan proceed to the next stage of the process. A difference of 94 houses between the two allocations will not make much difference to the overall housing allocation for the district.
Policy A15 is not Sound.
The Preferred Approach Local Plan allocated 125 houses in Loxwood. Loxwood Parish Council (LPC) produced a Revised Neighbourhood Plan (NP) based on this allocation. It was Submitted to CDC in December 2021 for Regulation 14 consultation. CDC would not allow NP to proceed due to the Water Neutrality issues.
No consultation or feedback received until the letter to northern parishes dated January 2022 laying out 5 growth scenarios. Results on study promised for easter 2022 together with consultation. This did not happen!
In January 2023, LPC told by CDC via Zoom meeting that Loxwood would be a strategic site with an allocation of 220 houses with a cut-off date of April 2021 for planning consents. Taking into account planning applications granted prior to this date plus unmet allocation in Made NP, actual number of houses is 220 + 91 = 311 houses.
Loxwood is a rural parish with very poor public transport infrastructure, major sewerage infrastructure issues. Southern Water will not allow any new connections until network upgraded. This will take at least 5 to 10 years (southern Water estimate).
Loxwood does not have a post office and shop. Closed September 2022 and thus does not meet CDC definition of Service Village
The Sustainability Appraisal with respect to Loxwood and the allocation of 220 plus houses is weak and does not adequately justify the allocation. It does not address the transport and environmental issues and in fact, any number of houses could be plucked from the narrative.
Work has had to be undertaken to look at the capacity of the north-east of the plan area to accommodate more dwellings, due to the constraints on growth in the south of the plan area (to demonstrate that the council has left ‘no stone unturned’ in seeking to reach the full local housing need figure). The outcome of this work, as set out in the Sustainability Appraisal (2023) and Housing Distribution Background Paper was that 220 is an appropriate figure for Loxwood parish to accommodate.
The housing distribution seeks to reconcile a range of factors in order to achieve the most sustainable approach to the distribution of development. This is set out in more detail within the Sustainability Appraisal and Housing Distribution Background Paper. Loxwood is a classed as a service village which is a suitable location for development (see Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper).
Criterion 10 of Policy A15: Loxwood, requires that development provides for infrastructure and community facilities in accordance with the most recent Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP).
Policy NE16 (d) (under Water Quality and Wastewater) requires that development is phased to align with the delivery of new or improved wastewater infrastructure where this is required.
The Plan acknowledges that the southern part of the plan area is generally more sustainable and better served by public transport. However, due to the constraints of the A27, the council has had to increase the supply of dwellings from the north of the plan area. Policies T1 and T2 set out how the council will work with partners to secure transport improvements as part of new development.
