Large Barnham housing development turned down

Gleeson Strategic Land wanted to build 200 homes west of Church Lane with access from Marshall Close.

More than 100 objections were received from residents and Arun District Council planning officers rejected the application in a decision published this week.

Objectors raised concerns about the scale of development already taking place in and around the village, the strain on infrastructure and services, parking, congestion, road safety, loss of public views, impact on the character of the area, effect on nearby listed buildings and destruction of wildlife and environment.

In their report officers said: “The scale of the development proposed is inappropriate for this location because of the significant harm that would be caused to the character and appearance of the locality. This could not be satisfactorily addressed by mitigation or revisions within the parameters set by the application.

“Overall the proposal would, if permitted, result in a form of development which represents poor place making and a failure to create a beautiful place contrary to achieving the aims and intentions of a number of policies from both the Arun local plan and the neighbourhood plan.”

The planning application was refused on the grounds it would create a form of development out of character with the locality, insufficient information in the submitted transport statement, insufficient mitigation measures proposed for the highway network, not enough information the effect of proposed highways enhancements would have on trees of high public amenity value, the absence of a detailed scheme to upgrade the foul water drainage system, no mitigation scheme to deal with the impact on the A27 junctions in Arun, an inadequate assessment of flood risks posed, no air quality assessment and the harmful impact on the setting of the Barnham Church Lane Conservation Area.