Efforts to protect green gap overruled by inspector as campaign group laments ‘black day’ for community
Campaigners have spoken of their devastation after a developer won an appeal to develop a treasured West Sussex green space.
Persimmon Homes’ plans to build 475 properties on land known as Chatsmore Farm, part of the green gap between Worthing and Ferring, were given outline approval by a planning inspector last week.
The decision followed a public inquiry last month, in which Worthing Borough Council defended its decision last year to reject the plans .
Reacting to the news,Ed Miller, secretary of Ferring Conservation Group, which opposed the plans, said it was a ‘black day for Ferring and for conservation in West Sussex’.
He added: “It is almost unbelievable that when 1,250 local residents, all local amenity groups, and all the Worthing councillors, say ‘no’, the government says ‘yes’.
“We all highly value these gaps – on both sides of Worthing – for the landscape, the farmland, the break in development, the wildlife habitat, but all the government values it for is as a contribution to a nationally-set housing target which it admits is literally impossible for Worthing to deliver.”
The council considered the land an important area of green space, which forms the boundary between Goring and other nearby settlements like Ferring.
The council’s reasons for refusal included the potential impact of the development on heritage assets like Highdown Hill; highway safety; potential impact on nesting birds; and concerns over infrastructure such as public open space and affordable housing.
But the planning inspector ruled that some of these were no longer valid as common ground had been found between WBC and Persimmon.
It was agreed that many of the council’ s reasons for refusing the development could be resolved through planning conditions and a section 106 agreement has since been signed by both parties.
In his decision letter, planning inspector Rory Cridland acknowledged that it was ‘important to protect the areas of open countryside which contribute to Worthing’s character’.
But the council’s failure to meet government housing targets and an ‘out of date’ core strategy worked in Persimmon’s favour, according to the planning inspector.
“It is clear that the unmet need for both market and affordable housing in Worthing is considerable,” he said.
“At present, no solution has been identified.”
Worthing Borough Council accepted that there was ‘substantial unmet need for affordable housing’ and, under national planning policy, a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ now applied.
On highway concerns, the planning inspector said there would be ‘increased congestion and travel time along parts of the highway network’ but added that the impact ‘would not be severe’.
Mr Cridland added that the development could have an ‘urbanising effect’ but that, because most of the buildings would be located at the southern end of the site, the overall visual impact would be ‘limited’.
For this reason, the planning inspector said the 475 homes would not have a ‘material effect’ on the national park or wider landscape.
The council’s local plan is currently being examinedand Chatsmore Farm’s status has been explored through this process.
The authority said in February that although the local plan inspector had not felt it appropriate to designate the land as a ‘local green space’, there was a ‘strong inference’ it could be afforded ‘local green gap’ status – helping to protect the site from development, albeit to a lesser extent with the stronger ‘green space’ designation.
But Mr C rid land said the local plan was not yet adopted and as such it‘ does not currently benefit from any formal protection in planning terms’.
Reacting to the decision, council leader Kevin Jenkins said: “We are extremely disappointed and very surprised by this ruling as it is in complete contrast to what was agreed in the Worthing Local Plan examination.
“We have worked closely with the Planning Inspectorate to reach an agreement on how we can meet our housing targets and protect our green areas, but this appears to have been completely overlooked. Worthing has one of the lowest areas of green space in the country, of which Chats more Farm is one. We will now be reviewing our options and will do everything in our power to protect this important green space from development.”
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