Development of 80 Southwater homes by Berkeley off Worthing Road approved for the second time

The application, from Berkeley Homes, makes up the fifth and final phase of the on-going development west of Worthing Road.

It was originally given the nod in 2020 but returned to the planning committee on Tuesday (November 1) because developers now have to show that their new builds will be water neutral.

While approving the application by 16 votes to zero with six abstentions, some councillors felt their hands had been tied and they had been ‘railroaded’ into the decision.

Their concerns centred around the way in which water neutrality would be achieved.

A condition of the approval called for water usage to be set at 89.8 litres per person per day, with small (130litre) bathtubs and flow regulators on all taps being used to help keep the usage low.

Questions were asked about how this could be enforced.

But the main concern among some councillors was the plan to offset the unmet requirements – some 20,900 litres – by including water-efficiency measures on sites which have been approved for development but are not yet built – such as phase 4 of the Worthing Road site and Highwood, east of the A24.

While this would be in line with the latest recommendations from Natural England, there were concerns.

Clive Trott (Lib Dem, Denne) suggested that offsetting created ‘a bit of a loophole to get round the water neutrality thing’.

Billy Greening (Con, Southwater North) said: “I am uncomfortable with the position of offsetting water, the taps dripping out and the bath being half the size – but if Natural England don’t oppose it then there’s nothing as a planning authority that we’re able to do about it.”

Ian Stannard (Con, Southwater South & Shipley) said he was ‘sceptical’ about how the restrictions on water use would be imposed, calling it ‘sleight of hand’.

Adding that he felt it was ‘unlikely’ that the development would achieve water neutrality, he said: “The new design of the buildings with restricted use of water and restricted bathrooms may not be something that’s particularly attractive to some one who wants to buy the house – but at least when they buy it they’ll know what they’ve got.”