Arun eyes potential sites for new homes

The council has written to developers, landowners, town and parish councils and other organisations asking for details of plots they want to be considered.

Detailed evaluation of the land will be undertaken by council officers to assess how far the locations might be suitable for housing. Their siting, development constraints and the character of the surrounding area will be taken into account.

Arun's member in charge of planning, Cllr Ricky Bower, said the council was under pressure from the government to provide more housing.

'The council, like many Arun residents, recognises that this will not be easy and that new development needs to be backed up by improvements to local services, transport and infrastructure.

'Whatever happens, we have to plan for new housing and we need to consider all possible outcomes regarding housing numbers.

'This makes it even more important we gather all available evidence on possible sites and make sure we have considered every option,' he stated.

The study '“ officially called a strategic housing land availability assessment '“- is a key piece of evidence as the council sets out its planning framework up to 2026.

Inclusion of sites in the assessment will not affect the normal planning process required to achieve planning permission for new buildings.

The evidence will join other studies the council is carrying out to decide how new housing and other development should be planned.

Future plans will be subject to full public consultation.

Arun had hoped to publish its preferred options for development '“ likely to be north of Chalcraft Lane '“ for consultation last October.

But this had to be postponed after the South East Plan Panel report recommended 2,000 extra houses should be built west of the River Arun.

This will take the total amount of housing in the next 20 years to 11,500 dwellings.

Arun expects to publish its latest preferred options this autumn.

The district is also facing two separate proposals each for 5,000 homes at Ford under the government's eco-town proposals.

If either is backed, in the face of Arun's opposition, these would further increase the district's housing numbers.