Chichester District Council plans to submit Local Plan in early 2024

The announcement follows its most recent consultation, which resulted in almost 2,500 comments from groups and individuals.

The council’s planning policy team has been carefully considering and addressing comments from the Regulation 19 consultation; meeting with key stakeholders and ministers; and finalising critical evidence. This has included continuing to examine the impacts on the A27 and local highway network.

The team is now preparing a document with proposed modifications to the plan, based on the feedback from the consultation. This will be submitted alongside the Regulation 19 plan for the Planning Inspector to consider.

“There is no doubt that this is the most challenging and complex piece of work the council has ever had to complete,” says Cllr Bill Brisbane, Cabinet Member for Planning at Chichester District Council.

“What’s important to explain is that the volume of comments that we received from the last consultation and the complex nature of the issues, has taken significant time to review and consider, and unfortunately this has delayed the process slightly. However, it is vital that we properly consider every comment that has been made.

“Planning is always a contentious issue, but it is important that residents and businesses know that we value their opinions and concerns and will recommend modifications where it is appropriate to do so. The comments we received in the most recent consultation have led to us to propose a series of modifications that will be listed alongside the plan when we submit this to the Planning Inspector for consideration.

“Our focus now needs to be on getting the plan into the best possible shape that we can, including finalising critical transport evidence, so that it is ready to be submitted in early 2024.

“As always we will keep our residents, businesses and partners closely informed on this matter.”

The Local Plan identifies development areas for economic growth and locations for new homes in the Chichester plan area over the next 15 years. There is a separate plan for those areas located in the National Park and this is produced by the South Downs National Park Authority.

For more information about the plan; frequently asked questions; and overview documents for the three key sections of the plan area, please visit: www.chichester.gov.uk/localplan.