A27 Chichester Bypass Mitigation Supplementary Planning Document - August 2023

We have read through the detail of the draft SPD and wish to make the following comments.

It is noted that this consultation focuses only on the A27 corridor and the stated need for highway capacity improvements, without a broader understanding of the land use and transport infrastructure requirements in the area.

In this context it is stated that the previously identified ‘full package of A27 improvements’ associated with the emerging local plan is undeliverable (for financial reasons). For this reason, we agree that a revised approach is needed to ensure the delivery of much needed housing.

We therefore understand the need for:

i. A revised set of A27 scheme proposals, which should come forward alongside an adopted growth strategy. It is unusual for the proposal to be predicated on an emerging Local Plan that has not yet been independently examined.

ii. A monitoring approach to establish when improvements are actually needed in the context of the above, and a mechanism to seek to ensure that housing delivery is not stalled.

iii. Appropriate contributions to be made from all applicable developments within the Chichester District Council administrative boundary south of the National Park. The current consultation relates solely to new homes, which needs to be reconsidered. In this context, it may be more appropriate to consider a review of CIL to secure appropriate contributions as opposed to a
formulaic approach via SPD, which will not be subject to examination.

In addition to the above however, we would also wish to highlight the uncertainty over future travel demands and the adopted national policy requirement to move towards a net zero transport system.

In this context, we would support the adoption of a more sustainable transport strategy approach, compared with that typically associated with a ‘car dependent’ predict and provide approach.

We note that the consultation refers to the revised A27 proposals as the ‘infrastructure constrained’
approach, thereby effectively placing a cap on potential housing numbers.

Whilst this ‘constraint’ may be the case for short periods of peak hour car trips at certain locations, we do not believe this phrase reflects that of the overall transport system, and would support the delivery of improvements to walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure, and other means to encourage modal shift away from car use in the future, and to ensure that housing can be delivered in parallel in a more sustainable manner