Have your say on changes to Westbourne’s conservation area

Local authorities are required by law to preserve or enhance their Conservation Areas – and Westbourne’s falls under the care of Chichester District Council.

Part of that care is the production of a character appraisal to explain why an area is important, how it can be protected, to assess its boundary and even decide whether it can be added to or reduced.

One of the proposals for Westbourne is to include the village cemetery within the Conservation Area.

A public consultation into the character appraisal will be launched on Friday (April 8), running until 5pm on Friday May 6.

A report about the final draft will be considered by the planning committee in May.

When the consultation opens, the character appraisal and more information — including details on the updates that have been made and how people can share their views — will be available at: www.chichester.gov.uk/article/24659/Conservation-Area-Character-Appraisals .

The matter was discussed briefly during a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (April 6).

The cemetery sits on the edge of the village, away from the current Conservation Area.

This prompted a question from committee chair Carol Purnell, who asked why a second Conservation Area could not be created instead bringing the cemetery into the first.

She was told by the council’s conservation officer that such a move would be ‘heavy handed’.

He added: “Having [the cemetery] as its own Conservation Area would be quite an undertaking and probably not justified just by the sheer amount of open space that there is there.”

Speaking outside the meeting, Susan Taylor, cabinet member for planning, said: “As part of this consultation, we’re keen to hear as many views as possible and would encourage residents and businesses to have their say.

“Given the significance of these areas, we hope that residents will take the time to look at the proposals in the consultations and give their views so we can fully take account of local opinions.”