This post forms part of a series designed to keep households informed of what is being proposed by the developers for the White House Farm site. This is the first of five.
Why respond?
One of the first jobs of our new Committee will be to organise a full general meeting in the Autumn about the impact of increased traffic on Westgate from the WHF development and what the developer is proposing to do about it. The need will be, well before the item comes up at a CDC Planning Meeting, to fully brief all households on the impact of the traffic generated by the White House Farm development so that households can write in with their comments.
We are grateful to Paul Wreyford for the staggering amount of work he has put in to uncover all the various proposals and the following slides are adapted from his presentation material.
Due to the limits of the technology, the quality of the images in each post may be somewhat poor. You can click on each slide and your own photo reader can be used if you want to zoom in on more detail. If the quality deteriorates too much, do click here to download and play with your own copy of this slideshow about the impact on Westgate traffic of the White House Farm Development.
Strategic Site Locations and WHF Proposal Phase 1 & 2
The developers of White House Farm submitted an outline planning application (Phase 1) to Chichester DC (the Local Planning Authority) in December 2014. There will be a Phase 2 application made further down the line.
The site is known as the West of Chichester Strategic Development Location (SDL), known locally as the Whitehouse Farm Development (WHF). This plan has been approved and as such is no longer up for debate. At the moment it looks like this:
This is what they plan to put there (click on the images to enlarge them although the smaller text will remain fuzzy):
Notice here that in Phase 1, the subject of the current planning application, only the first 850 houses (out of a possible 1600 in total) are proposed to be built. These will have a proposed single exit north, out onto Old Broyle Road, which will probably deliver extra traffic both to the Northgate giratory and the mini-roundabout at the bottom of Sherborne Road. And vice versa of course.
For phase 2, a further 850 houses are proposed be built, plus some industrial units to the south of the site (in pink). It is proposed that a second but southern exit be built at this point which would deliver a large increase in traffic, including some commercial, into the current Westgate western cul-de-sac and onto the mini-roundabout at the junction with Sherborne Road. And vice versa of course.
There is some talk that the developer might build the southern exit as part of phase 1 in order to relieve traffic to the north immediately, but this is not confirmed.
What to do
- The official deadline for public and statutory consultee responses has now passed but the Parklands RA tells us that it has been assured by CDC officers that, in view of the many issues and concerns expressed at last year’s Local Plan Examination In Public, they are prepared to consider further submissions.
- CDC officers also expressed some surprise at the low number of submissions received so far, which is why we were moved rapidly to revive the Westgate Residents’ Association. If only a few local responses are received, it is most likely that this Phase 1 development will be approved as will a future Phase 2 application. The number of household responses has already risen since our initiative, so thank you.
- The application is likely to be determined this Autumn 2015, so it is imperative that anyone still wishing to have their say should do so before then. The Westgate RA Steering Committee will be meeting from 25th August in order to revive the RA and set a date, place and time for a general meeting of all interested Westgate households. A full presentation of the WHF development will be made at this meeting, which will be designed to give everyone enough up-to-date information to make an official response to the Chichester District Council before the proposal goes to the Planning Committee. No date has been set for this as there are many questions still for the developers to answer, but we should plan for a possible decision between the October and December committees.
- We may not be able to prevent these planning approvals but our concerns about the impact on the local environment and local Westgate community may well be ignored if we do not respond. We can all help ensure that the development has a minimal adverse impact on Westgate and, if possible, actually enhances it.
- It is worth bearing in mind at this point that the Westgate RA, in line with common practice, is not here to tell you whether to support nor oppose this development, nor to insist that you say anything. Every response has to be made independently and individually if it is to be counted.
- It is also worth stating that the situation remains very fluid in relation to this application, given the variety of partners involved and the requirements place up on the development by local and national bodies. This post contains only the current state of our knowledge and should be read in accordance.
To review this planning application yourself – although it runs to 1,000 pages – visit the CDC planning portal here and type in or copy and paste the application reference: 14/04301/OUT
Read post number 2 in this series.
With thanks to Paul Wreyford for his permission to use the material he has so painstakingly researched for the Parklands Residents Association. Photos: Paul Wreyford.
