Chichester District Council planning officers recommended approval, but the southern area development control committee voted 12-1 to refuse permission on the grounds the scheme was in an unsustainable location, and went against the local development plan.

A representative of Chidham and Hambrook Parish Council said the site, in The Avenue, would be an assault on the 'strategic gap' around Hambrook.

The parish council was not against additional housing, but this was the wrong place for it, and there were other more suitable locations in the village.

Southern Water had not solved local sewage problems, and flooding also occurred on a regular basis.

Cllr Myles Cullen, representing the local area, said the application faced 'opposition on a grand scale', and he believed this was fully justified.

"We cannot be blind to the need for affordable housing, but this application lacks credibility as a suitable sustainable development," he added.

"This is not warranted in a strategic gap."

Cllr Pieter Montyn said that all this would be was a dormitory site, with no facilities at all, and he could not go along with it.

Cllr Mary Marrs said the site was the wrong place for development, and Cllr Fred Robertson, who proposed refusal, said it was in conflict with the development plan.

The project also faced opposition from Chichester Harbour Conservancy, which said it had strong concerns over the closeness of the development to the harbour's Bosham and Thorney channels, which were nationally protected landscapes.

Disturbance to wildfowl and waders could be increased.



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