No choice but to allocate land for at least 100 new homes
I am writing in response to Mr C Percival’sletter(Letters,January 20). Since the 1940s the Norfolk Estate, which put this site forward, has provided land to meet the housing needs of Arundel.
Arun District Council’s Local Plansetsouttheneedforhousing across the district, and every parish needs to allocate their share of this growth. Arundel is uniquely challenged being surroundedbytheSouthDowns National Park and flood plain, so there are not many places suitable for development.
As part of the neighbourhood plan (NP) we consulted on sites put forward by a number of land owners for development. Whilst no site would be ideal, and given a choice we would not have submitted any sites for development, we had to allocate land for at least 100 new dwellings.
OurjobontheNPCommittee was to allocate land that would be sustainable and feasible, but more importantly that would pass referendum of the Arundel electorate. If the development was not carried out as part of an adopted NP, then rogue developers and landowners would develop housing in ways that would be much worse than this, and possibly without the need to provide for the much needed affordable housing.
ThepetitionreferredtobyMr Percival was carried during the NP process and since then the November 2019 NP Referendum showed80percentofresidentsin support of the plan on a turnout of 35 per cent.
The Norfolk Estate & Savills consulted with local residents again in August 2020: 80 residentsandotherstakeholders responded with 61 per cent stating they supported the draft plans.
The adopted 2019 NP established the principle of development on this site (in Policy AR2) and the outline planning app is in accordance with the NP policy.
There is no evidence that this development will result in further development, indeed theNPsetsouttheincreasetothe BUAB(BuiltUpAreaBoundary)of Arundeltowntoonlyincludethis development. Further changes to the BUAB would necessitate a change to the current NP, and so another referendum.
The biodiversity report, submitted with the outline planning application states that with mitigation the local ecology could be enhanced rather than destroyed. Similarly, the transportreportstatesthatthere willbenoadverseeffectsonFord Road.
The site is not remote from the town centre, it is less than 2km from Arundel Station, and much closer to the town shops and schools. The site will integrate seamlessly with the existing houses on Torton Hill, Canada Road, Dalloway Road with footpaths/cycle routes to access the town. In addition the site will facilitate access to the nearby PROW’s (public rights of way) to the River Arun, South DownsNationalParkandBinsted Woods.
The whole site is just over 10 hectares, with only just under four hectares being developed (within the BUAB); there will be no development on the lower flood plain part of the site.
In addition to providing 27 affordable homes for Arundel the site will include a new play area & village green, public accessto5hectaresofrevitalised landscapedareas,newallotments andlandsetasideforATCtobuild a new community centre.
Theseamenitieswillbeforall of Arundel to enjoy.