Decision due on 118 homes right next to A27

Sunley Estates wants permission to build on land immediately south of the A27 and north of Scants Road West with access from Broad Road.

Chichester District Council’s planning committee is due to discuss its application next Wednesday (March 3).

A total of 85 objections have been sent in by residents, but council planning officers are recommending approval.

Meanwhile more details have been released on a planning appeal over 35 homes proposed south of Hambrook Holiday Park.

The applicant has lodged this on the grounds of non-determination.

Back in October members of the planning committee voted to contest the appeal, which will take place via a hearing.

Three copies of any written representations should be sent to The Planning Inspectorate, FAO:- Milena Opolska, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6PN quoting the DCLG reference number APP/L3815/W/20/3259646.

These must be received by Wednesday March 24.

The parish of Chidham and Hambrook is also fighting three other large housing developments, all in and around Nutbourne East.

The separate outline applications are for 94 homes west of Pottery Lane, another for 132 homes east of Broad Road and a third for 68 homes west of Drift Lane.

The Chidham and Hambrook Parish Action Group (CHPAG) website contains more information on all three applications and how to object.

Visit https://chpag.wordpress.com

Spokesman Andrew Kerry-Bedell said: “We find it amazing developers are still pushing top quality agricultural land for housing, with some even proposing we build right over the top of the new wildlife corridors.”

He suggested Chichester District Council needed to carry out an updated review of all brownfield sites so residents know what better and more sensible site options there are ‘so we can all avoid having to pillage any more valuable productive farmland for new housing’.

Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council hosted a virtual zoom meeting to gauge residents’ views on the three applications at the end of January.

Vice-chair Jane Towers described how the semi-rural parish was ‘under siege from developers’.

She said: “These latest three proposed large scale developments would have a devastating effect on our community. Between them they will destroy our wildlife corridor, obliterate valued views, significantly impact the AONB, remove high grade agricultural land and put pressure on local services and local transport network. Our villages will no longer exist as they are subsumed into ribbon development along the A259.”

She went on to suggest three should be a moratorium on all such planning proposals given the challenges people are facing during the pandemic ‘until we are able to devote the appropriate time to them’.