In despair over the Local Plan

Last week’s piece in your paper by Susan Taylor, Conservative cabinet member for planning at the District Council, left me in despair that she had not only so missed the mood of her electorate, but understood so little of what a Sustainable Local Development Plan should aim to achieve.

No matter what happens in the forthcoming local elections, the proposed local plan will saddle us with unsustainable developments, with insufficient sewerage services, no new schools, no more local GP practices, grid-locked roads, deteriorating public transport, and no significant investment in cycling infrastructure.

In addition, loss of wildlife habitats, and no net gain on biodiversity. And the 2019 general election saw the Tory Manifesto promising infrastructure before development!

73% of the Chichester District is classified as South Downs National Park (SDNP) and a further 3.5% is occupied by the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding National Beauty

(CHAONB).

This land is protected against development. This suggests that Chichester District

Council would be justified in taking the government-allocated figure for housing and reducing it by 76.5%.

Therefore building

23.5% of the housing. The government target was

638 houses per year from 2021-2039 or 11,484 houses. This would equate to 2,699 houses, not the 10,354 proposed.

There appears to be no justification in the proposed local plan for how the decision on a target number of houses for the district has been reached.

I would simply ask what has become of the English equivalent of the ‘Grand Old Party’ that

it should be found to be so fouling the nest and destroying all that is wonderfully joyous

about the natural environment that see the district such an attractive place to do business?

The current ruling group should be reminded of our old saying: “Sussex won’t be druv!”

Dick Pratt, co-chair of The Bosham Association

Bosham Lane