West Sussex housing issues

This is a snapshot of the housing picture across West Sussex at present:

Worthing

An appeal over the council’s rejection of plans for Chatsmore Farm, part of the green gap between Worthing and Ferring, was won by developer Persimmon Homes. The scheme had been opposed by more than 1,000 residents, MP Sir Peter Bottomley and the council’s planning committee. The inspector conceded that even if Worthing developed ‘every blade of grass’, its housing shortfall would still be challenging. Adur The council put forward two major greenfield developments in its local plan – but still fell well short of the initial government target. It last year bought New Salts Farm, separating Lancing and Shoreham, to protect it from potential development.

Mid Sussex

After plans for thousands of homes on top of more than 11,000 proposed for the district were paused,leaderJonathanAsh-Edwards wrote to the government calling for ‘our housing targets to be reset to a level more consistent with our environmental and infrastructure constraints’.

Horsham

Horsham’s local plan has been delayed due to an ‘unforeseeable’ announcement by the government’s advisor on the natural environment. See our comment, left.

Chichester

Hundreds of protestors marched to raise awareness of the’urbanisation’ of the Manhood Peninsula last month. A 5,500 signature petition on overdevelopment of the area was sent to Housing Secretary Michael Gove. Arun In the three years to March 2021, Arun District Council delivered 1,872 homes but its target is 2,891. As a consequence, planning applications will have to be approved so long as they are considered ‘sustainable’ and the benefits of such developments outweigh any detrimental impacts.

Crawley

Campaigners have expressed their outrage over plans for up to 10,000 homes west of Ifield. Homes England has been criticisedovertheproposals, which would see a huge tranche of countryside built on.