Chichester District Council rejects plans for new dwellings in Southbourne

Mr A Williams, of PNH Properties Ltd., had applied for ‘the demolition of the existing buildings, the erection of a total of eight affordable dwellings and 21 open market dwellings, at Gosden Green Nursery in Southbourne.

Southbourne Parish Council and 20 others submitted objections to the plan with the Parish Council believing that the building work would contrary to ‘conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.’

The 1.42 hectacre site would also have seen ‘the provision of a new access road and areas of hardstanding for parking and turning - the provision of a new public Right of Way between Footpath No 203 and Main Road - the planting of a Community Orchard at the northern end of the site together with new tree planting and landscaping throughout the rest of the site and the provision of a number of swales, an attenuation basin and an underground pumping station at the southern end of the site.

In the statement of refusal by Chichester District Council it wrote: “The proposed development would result in the provision of a large number of dwellings outside of and poorly related to the existing settlement.

“Furthermore, the proposed development, would not constitute high quality development within the countryside and would result in a overdeveloped and contrived form of development that would detract from the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”