Developments for the Parish

Season's Greetings, fellow Kirdford Parishioners

As this year slowly draws to a close, your Parish Council wanted to update you on some developments that will be occurring in and around the village. These will affect us from 2021 onwards so we hope you can spend a few minutes to read this announcement.

HELAA 

Chichester District Council has recently re-issued their Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) document which provides an assessment of available land for development in the Parish. This is land offered by Kirdford landowners to Chichester for possible housing development. The 2018 version of this document did not identify any additional housing for the Parish, so it comes as an unexpected shock to read the 2020 version identifies land availability equivalent to 591 houses for the Parish, with an initial allocation of 70 homes with staged developments planned until 2037. The land has yet to pass through the planning processes, but the chaotic change in direction partly results from the expiry of Chichester's own Local Plan. Despite this, we want to assure residents that the Parish Council intends to robustly defend our Kirdford Neighbourhood Plan, as adopted by referendum by the village, as the legally binding document representing your democratic voice. Our Parish has 458 houses in total, of which 226 homes are in the village. Controlled integration of small developments, driven by local need, is fundamental to preserve our village community. 

Land South of Townfield

A site identified in the Kirdford Neighbourhood Plan for development is the Townfield site. In recent months there have been approaches to Kirdford Parish Council from an agent on behalf of the developer. We understand the agent and Chichester District Council have had initial planning meetings towards outlying planning permission, however the details have not been shared with us to date, so we cannot brief the Parish on the content. The agent has told us that they will provide a public consultation website so that we all can review what they have in mind for the development. Please review the consultation carefully and provide comments and opinion.

Plaistow Road Development

The field just north of Bramley Close, identified for development in the Neighbourhood Plan, was to be developed by CALA Homes with 54 new homes. Our Neighbourhood Plan required a phased approach for building, with half the houses first and a period of sales and integration for the new villagers, followed by development of the second half. Initially upheld by Chichester District Council, CALA then submitted a new application for the homes to be built without phasing. Despite our objection, and against our advice, Chichester District Council permitted CALA's second application significantly increasing the value of the plot. CALA are now selling the site with the new permission to another developer. After six years of stagnation, development is likely to start next year, but following the unphased development.

Crouchlands Farm

The Couchlands Farm site in Plaistow was in turmoil for years, causing environmental damage and distress to the two Parish communities, due to the unlawful developments of the previous owner. Ineffective enforcement by Chichester District Council meant that the site continued to pollute our environment for years before the residents could raise sufficient funding to pursue a successful Public Enquiry and have the development stopped. The new owner has been working hard to clear up the site and has recently issued a public consultation presenting their plans for some of the site (note; half of Crouchlands Farm falls within the Kirdford Parish). The Parish Councils of Plaistow and Kirdford visited the site in the autumn of 2019 to hear their advanced plans which included the content of this consultation, plus the future housing plans for approximately 130 houses. The consultation deadline for comments is January 11th, 2021, so time is short. We encourage everyone to review and comment.

Artemis Land

Planning Consultation Website

That's all from us for now. May we take this opportunity to wish all of us a safe and happy Christmas, and better times in 2021.

Kirdford Parish Council