MP praises Chichester District Council for its Local Plan thumbs up

Planning Inspectors informed Chichester District Council that its 2021-2039 Local Plan is likely to be sound and legal in a preliminary letter sent earlier this month. 

“I’m really proud of the great work that the Lib Dem team have led at CDC.  This thumbs up means that Chichester now has the protection from inappropriate development that it should have had in place years ago,” said Jess Brown-Fuller, Chichester’s Liberal Democrat MP. 

Although some modifications to the plan are still to be agreed, the Inspectors wrote to the council this month thanking officers and councillors for their “constructive and helpful approach”, stating that the “Plan is likely to be capable of being found legally compliant and sound.” 

“We have worked hard to cope with moving goalposts and to get alignment and support from important stakeholders such as Natural England.  I want to pay tribute to the way local politicians and CDC staff worked together to deliver a great result for Chi District. Now we just need to dot the ‘I’s and cross the ’T’s to complete the process after this thumbs up for our plan,” said Adrian Moss, Leader of the Liberal Democrat controlled council.

The council had argued that inadequate transport infrastructure in the area justified a housing requirement below the Government’s imposed targets, but the Inspectors did not agree.  However, the Inspectors conceded that, as the council had identified a deliverable housing land supply for the five years starting in 2025 of about 2,381 dwellings, the annualised housing requirement could be 574 dwellings per annum until 2029/30, only increasing to 701 from 2038/39. 

The Inspectors did not see any requirement for major modifications of the council’s Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, a topic that had been subject to discussion during the Hearing and which has been an important defence against a plethora of planning proposals by developers in the area.

Having a Local Plan in place is important for a local authority to help direct housing into the most sustainable locations.