Chichester District Council is currently carrying out a consultation on the Local Plan Preferred Approach. We are worried about the possible impact of some of the policies within the Plan on Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - particularly:
AL6 / SA6 - 85ha of employment land, minimum 100 houses and a new link road at land at Apuldram
AL6/SA7 - 13 ha with a minimum of 250 houses at Highgrove Farm, Bosham
SA9 - minimum 250 houses at Fishbourne
SA10 - minimum 500 houses at Chidham and Hambrook
SA13 - minimum 1,250 houses at Southbourne
Our concerns are that the Local Plan will cause:
· An irretrievable detrimental impact on the landscape character, context and setting of the AONB and National Park
· Coalescence between settlements between Chichester and Emsworth along the A259 corridor
· The loss of key landscape views from the AONB towards Chichester Cathedral at Apuldram
· The further deterioration in water quality leading to the downgrading of Chichester Harbour's SSSI status
· Increased disruption to internally important migrating birds that may not be effectively mitigated as part of the Bird Aware scheme
If you would like to comment on the Local Plan, the consultation ends on Thursday 7th February at:
http://www.chichester.gov.uk/chichesterlocalplan2035
