Chichester Local Plan 2021 - 2039: Proposed Submission

Object

Representation ID: 4172

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Yes

Duty to co-operate? Yes

Does not include any strategies to enhance the early evening or night-time economy as in 7.47 It is completely focussed on retail.

Comment noted

Object

Representation ID: 4173

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Yes

Duty to co-operate? Yes

There is reference to the Chichester Vision document which was created in 2017. This draft Local Plan is looking at the next 15-20 years. The 2017 document is clearly out of date and a great deal has changed in terms of both the population and the demands of different age groups of the population. It is not ambitious enough and lacks vision.

The 2017 Chichester Vision remains the current version and the plan text should continue to refer to the Vision. The action plan relating to the Vision continues to be reviewed to ensure that it reflects the most appropriate projects

Object

Representation ID: 4174

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Yes

Duty to co-operate? Yes

This is an admission that the A27 will be completely beyond capacity and that there are no funding sources available to carry out the necessary improvements identified to avoid this. This is irresponsible and would leave Chichester residents trapped. Another impact will be the increasing use of ‘rat runs’ through residential or rural areas to avoid the gridlock.

The Local Plan Transport Studies (2023 & 2024) were commissioned to provide evidence to support the Local Plan. It is acknowledged that there are existing capacity issues on the existing network. However, Policy T1 sets out a strategy that will support the delivery of infrastructure improvements which will allow the proposed level of development to be delivered without giving rise to unacceptable levels of highway safety concerns on the Strategic Road Network.

Object

Representation ID: 4175

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Yes

Duty to co-operate? Yes

If no additional funding is available. The timing of these improvements will depend on the timing of development and will therefore be dependent on commercial decisions by developers. This is not a sound long-term strategy. Moving away from ‘predict and provide’ to ‘monitor and manage’ is a decision made because no additional funding sources have been identified. To build 10,350 homes in the plan area with no such certainty is leaving the A27 open to be being at gridlock constantly. It will become a car park with idling engines.

The strategy set out in Policy T1 and supporting text is focused on ensuring that the Local Plan can continue to deliver new homes for the area whilst avoiding the severe highway safety issues that are anticipated if the development came forward without appropriate mitigation.
It is relatively common practice that the delivery of housing is linked to infrastructure improvements. This is through S106 and other legal agreements.

Object

Representation ID: 4176

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Yes

Duty to co-operate? Yes

Where is the 4th objective which appears in 8.8?

This will be addressed through a minor modification to paragraph 8.9

Object

Representation ID: 4177

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? Yes

Duty to co-operate? Yes

The road network is already at capacity and even if all the homes are built developer contributions would not pay for the improvements needed.

The strategy set out in Policy T1 will support the level of development that is proposed by the Plan by developing improvements to key junctions as well as other measures to promote and support access to sustainable transport modes

Support

Representation ID: 4178

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Any development should have roads adopted by the local council and not given over to Management companies. This ensures the roads are built to a high standard and that developments do not become exclusive to the communities they are located in. We have developments where the roads are private and this has caused problems with access for local residents.

Support and comments noted . The need for inclusive access to development is reflected within Policy P4. It is considered beyond the scope of the Local Plan to specify requirements related to the adoption of roads.

Object

Representation ID: 4179

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The statistical base used for the number of cars used by homeowners is almost certainly inaccurate as the amount of parking needs to be sufficient to cater for households where there are two or more working family members.

Objection noted. The extent and adequacy of car parking provision is subject of Policy T4 and informed by West Sussex Parking Standards. Representation therefore duplicated to T4 (rep 6312 refers). As no changes to Policy P4 or its supporting text are proposed, no further action is recommended

Object

Representation ID: 4180

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? Not specified

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

It should be specifically stated that wildlife and biodiversity needs to be taken into account.
The optimum density of development should take account of areas. For example rural areas should not be suitable for developments with a density of 35 houses per hectare.

Policy P3 does not attempt to duplicate or contradict the criteria of NE5, which explicitly address biodiversity and require the provision of minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain, as determined by the existing ecological value of the site. ii) The expected 35 dwellings per hectare minimum standard is stated within the supporting text rather than being a mandated policy requirement. Therefore, it is a guideline rather than a specific policy requirement. The policy itself instead requires a design-led site-specific approach that considers the surrounding context, such as rural settings, to ensure appropriate densities are achieved.

Support

Representation ID: 4181

Received: 15/03/2023

Respondent: Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council

We agree with it but it needs to be tightly controlled. Design & access statements need to be fully considered. We have an enormously diverse range of housing types.
This embraces some sound design principles. Our major concern is that the District Council planning team has sufficient resources to be able at the pre-application phase, to really assess the level of compliance with these ambitious design principles. We feel that it is important in rural and semi-rural locations to pay significant attention to the intended design and quality of new homes. Certain recent housing developments around Chichester have fallen way short of these aims.

Support and comment noted. Ensuring that the requirements for high quality design are met will put pressure on resources, but a strong policy framework will improve the Council’s ability to achieve such standards, and the future production of a design code will further support the process