Plans to build 40 homes in Southbourne have been cautiously
approved by Chichester District Council.
The outline application for the former Four Acre
Nursery, in Cooks Lane, was given the nod during a meeting
of the planning committee on Wednesday (December 6)but the
decision was not reached easily.
At
the first time of asking, the application was voted down by
six votes to five.
Members had raised concerns about flooding,
particularly in the south-west corner of the site where the
access would be, and the narrowness of Cooks Lane.
The
applicant, PNH Properties Group, pledged to raise the road
surface accessing the site by 300mm above the existing
ground level to reduce the risk of flooding.
On top of that, no objections were raised by the West
Sussex highways team about the road itself.
But the issue of a ‘green ring’ around the site was
not one which would go away.
Roy
Briscoe (Con, Westbourne) warned his fellow committee
members that refusing the application would probably lead to
an appeal which the council would lose as it did not have a
five-year supply of housing land.
He
suggested that the plans be approved, with a condition added
to increase the size of the green ring.
Mr Briscoe’s proposal was agreed by ten votes to one.
The meeting heard plenty of opposition to the plans.
John
Cross (Lib Dem, Fittleworth) said Cooks Lane was ‘not fit
for purpose’, adding that it would be ‘an absolute disaster’
once the new homes were built.
Jonathan Brown (Lib Dem, Chichester North) described the
application as ‘piecemeal planning and very poorly done’.
Lyn
Hicks, of the Southbourne Neighbourhood Plan steering group,
pointed out that a similar plan had been refused in 2021 for
just that reason as it ‘would not be in the interest of
proper planning’.
Ms
Hicks added that allowing the latest application
‘compromised the master-planning of future development in
Southbourne’.
The
development will have a new access off Cooks Lane and 12 of
the homes will be classed as affordable.
To
view the application, log on to publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk and
search for 22/01903/OUT.
Sussex World 7th December
