Local Plan Review: Preferred Approach 2016-2035

I have been requested to mention reference AL10 which is the section of the Chichester Local Plan which covers Chidham and Hambrook.

I am aware of a number of very detailed, well constructed and logical representations that have been made by both individuals and indeed our own Parish Council for Chidham and Hambrook.

My concerns are numerous, but I shall be as succinct as possible.

Whilst I understand the enormous, and I would suggest unfair and potentially damaging, pressure being put on West Sussex County Council and thereafter Chichester District Council to build ever more homes in a very special and wonderful area of the UK, there is as far as I can see absolutely no OVERALL long-term plan. I consider that far too many planning issues and decisions are being decided upon almost with complete disregard for the countryside, the environment and essential infrastructure and services in the areas of roads, education, transportation, amenities and the general well-being of the general public who live, work and recreate in our area.

There is no doubt at all in my mind that planning decisions require much more time if the right decisions are to be made. It is absolutely essential I feel that CDC and indeed West Sussex County Council do not bend to the pressures of Central Government - whoever happens to be in power - and shows much more spine and resistance when handed down massive requirements for the building of ever more new and often "affordable" housing.

We are right to be very concerned indeed about the A27. Mr Grayling seems to be of the opinion that upgrading and preferably re-routing the A27 and perhaps making it into a three lane motorway at the same time is NOT A PRESSING ISSUE! Does he or do his civil servants ever use the A27? I suggest they do not. My view is that solving the A27 problem must come to the top of the agenda for WSCC and CDC - now.

The absence of teamwork and a more holistic view of how to achieve additional affordable housing here in West Sussex is quite shocking. Our parish of Chidham and Hambrook is very clearly a parish split in the same way as the UK is North/South. This is because much of the Southern part of Chidham falls within the AONB and must, as most plans and planners seem to agree, be preserved at all costs for current and all future generations. There appears to me to be an enormous opportunity for a coming together of the parishes of the "Bournes" as well as the parishes to the East and South of Chichester. I am not aware that there is much if any cross-Parish contact, discussion and communication. This must surely be a place to start?

My view is that each and every property developer - individual or corporate - has only one motivation - to build homes/houses as quickly as possible and make the most profit possible. That is how businesses are motivated and succeed. The evidence I see as I drive around this area is that NO ONE TAKES INTO ADEQUATE CONSIDERATION the impact of piecemeal housing construction on the local environment.

The A259 and in many cases roads leading North from the A 259 are now scarred by indiscriminate building of a vast number of houses, with many more imminent. Many of these houses will inevitably be purchased by families with children. I see no planning at all for the educational resources that will be needed for these children. Most schools along the A259 are brim full. And the same applies to the doctors' practices. Building to appease Central Government's demands is a way to certain disaster for the society (now much divided) in which residents of West Sussex want to live. The A259 is now more a of a roadworks site than a road.........and journey times get longer every day.

I am quite sure that CDC will be inundated with more probing technical observations on the density of houses that supposedly could be built on the small pockets of land between the A259 and the SDNP.

I believe passionately that the Plan needs more time; more detailed analysis and more discussion - it is not as it stands today Fit for Purpose.