SDNPA Local Plan receives over 2,000 comments
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Speaking at the South Downs National Park Authority’s Annual General Meeting, CEO Sion McGeever said that 2,200 residents had commented on the updated Local Plan during the consultation period.
Noting that the main points of interest were around allocations at Easebourne, Sompting and Keymer. Mr McGeever told the meeting on July 7 that the intention is: “To bring the plan back to the planning committee in November, and full authority in December so that all are engaged on how we’ve responded to consultancy and to review what that interest looks like.”
The three allocations of land for development in Easebourne has angered residents who say that the SDNPA’s process of combining the historic estate village with the nearby town of Midhurst to rationalise building, is “unfair and unjust.” They argue that Easebourne’s infrastructure is unable to cope with more housing, and that the agricultural land put forward is unsuitable for development.
Andrew Griffiths MP, who visited Easebourne last week, to meet over 80 villagers, has since written to Midhurst’s Yvonne Gravely who has just been appointed West Sussex County Council representative at the SDNPA.
He wrote: “Our residents badly need you to speak up and actively oppose unsuitable developments.
“The sites at Budgenor Lodge and next to Easebourne Primary School are of particular concern because they are on greenfield agricultural land.
“Neither of these sites conserve or enhance the village, and if proper heritage and conservation assessments can be made before submitting to the planning inspectorate, then this will likely draw the same conclusion.”
Speaking to the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, Mrs Gravely said she has requested a briefing so that she can better respond to residents.
She said she has already been in touch with the Working Together 4 Easebourne residents group who stand in opposition to the way the allocations have been approved.
Mr Griffiths also pointed in his correspondence that villagers are “rightly concerned” having seen what happened with the last development on Easebourne Street, where “this was allowed on the basis of keeping the land open.”
One comment from a resident of Easebourne Street submitted to the SDNPA highlighted the beautiful, rural surroundings of the village and begged the planning authorities to preserve the wild spaces therein: “The village of Easebourne has a distinctive rural identity. The air is fresh and unpolluted, full of birds, bees, and insects.
“The landscape around includes many fallow fields, unkempt with wildflowers and grasses growing year on year, grazed idly by cattle, and filled with ancient trees.
“The people of Easebourne welcomed me to their community, popping by to say hello when I moved in. I feel safe and at ease here, and part of an eco-system of people.
“Easebourne has a small, supportive community, the kind where people wave from their cars in the street and you can't walk along without having a chat with another resident. It has a small infrastructure, with a corner shop, farm shop, and petrol station.
“We have already tolerated the building of a new estate of houses on Easebourne Street, with it the significant increase in traffic, the disruption of constant heavy lorries going past, and the change to beautiful scenery. Many of the residents are older people, who have lived here for many years, and they fear for what they will leave behind, what it will look like for the generations to come.
“That is my fear too.
“I can only beg that you prioritise the protection, preservation of this village, its wild spaces, and its people, over your goals of development and growth and choose a more appropriate place for your development.
“Not all the old ways are bad, and not all new things are good. I am a firm believer in the opposite way around. Please, leave our village in peace.”
The next stage for the Local Plan is for the SDNPA to agree to any final modifications based on feedback before submitting the Plan for examination with the Planning Inspectorate.