Plans for 39 new homes on edge of village near Chichester approved

The application, from Sunley Estates Ltd, was given the nod at a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (December 9).

It will see a mixture of two, three and four-bedroom houses, flats and bungalows built on the former Lowlands Nursery site, in Lagness Road.

Twelve of the homes on the 2.1 hectare site will be classed as affordable.

Agent David Neame, of Neame Sutton Ltd, pointed out that there had been almost no objections to the plans – two in all – adding that comments received during discussions with the parish council had described the application as ‘exemplary’ and setting ‘a benchmark for the village’.

He said: “The overall aim is to achieve a high quality development that the village can be proud of.”

When it came to carbon reduction, Mr Neame said Sunley Estates had gone ‘above and beyond’ what was required.

The development will see ten of the homes fitted with solar panels while 31 of them will include electric vehicle charging points.

Air source heat pumps will make up the main source of heating while ‘fabric first’ will be used during construction, all of which will massively reduce the residual energy used.

The power lines which currently run across the site will be diverted and buried.

The meeting was told there would be two access points into the site.

The main one will be a new 5.5m wide road on to the B2166 Langness Road, with 2m footpaths on either side, while the existing entrance will be downgraded to 3.2m wide for use by pedestrians and cyclists.

Some concerns were raised by Simon Oakley (Con, North Mundham & Tangmere) about the bend in the road leading to the new access point.

Mr Oakley wondered if cars coming round the bend would have enough time to stop before shunting into any traffic which may be queueing to turn right into the site.

But he was told that the highways team didn’t think there would be ‘any significant impact’ from traffic once the development was built.

The application was one of two filed by Sunley Estates for North Mundham, with another for 66 homes and a community hub south of the nursery still to be decided.

To find out more about that application, visit chichester.gov.uk/planning and search for 20/02989/FUL.