Chichester Local Plan: 'We will now be better able to determine our own future'

Less than 12 months after being elected to office, the Liberal Democrat-controlled council last week submitted Chichester District’s new Local Plan to the Government Inspector.

The Local Plan provides a development strategy determining where all major development will be built in the Chichester District until 2039 based on detailed evidence relating to housing needs, wildlife and environmental data, flood mapping and agreements with other statutory authorities.

“I am thrilled that the new District Council has been able to put all the jigsaw pieces together and, through the hard work and commitment of officers and councillors, submitted a new Local Plan for inspection.

"Although the process of inspection will take more months, the fact that the plan has been consulted upon and submitted means that it carries more weight now in planning decisions and appeals.

"This is a great step forward – but I’m keeping up the campaign for a much-needed overhaul of national planning policy – to stop developers riding rough shod over communities and to ensure that infrastructure comes first,” said Jess.

Chichester’s Local Plan had been due for inspection in 2020 but delays and difficulties in gathering evidence and finding sufficient sustainable sites for government determined housing numbers meant that it only went out to consultation last year, three years late.

The new council has been working ‘flat out’ to go through all the consultation responses and ensure the updated plan is fit for purpose, said Jess, noting that absence of an up-to-date plan since 2020 has resulted in a slew of housing applications throughout the district in places outside of allocated sites.