Warehouse Construction Plans Recommended For Refusal By Chichester Planners

Plans to build more than 40,000sqm of warehousing in Boxgrove have been recommended for refusal by officers at Chichester District Council.

The outline application from Heaver Commercial Ltd, for land at the Temple Bar junction, on Stane Street, will be considered by the planning committee on Wednesday May 13.

The council has received 23 letters objecting to the plans, along with objections from Boxgrove Parish Council, Westhampnett Parish Council and the South Downs National Park Authority.

Concerns raised include: the development being out of keeping with the area, the height of the buildings being inappropriate, the impact on rural roads, an increase in noise and pollution, harm to biodiversity, and the impact such a development would have on the South Downs National Park.

Boxgrove Parish Council also said the development would ‘worsen existing congestion on the Chichester Bypass’.

Planning officers gave a number of reasons for the application to be refused – but highway concerns was not one of them.

Among the reasons was: the site being at risk of surface water flooding, no acceptable surface water drainage strategy, and the impact it would have on the National Park.

A report to the committee said:

“The scale of development, along with the introduction of significant external lighting, would result in a harmful urbanising effect, making it a large, isolated feature visible from several key viewpoints within the [Park] as well as in views back towards the [Park].

“This would substantially alter the rural character of the area, impact the setting of the [Park], and fail to demonstrate sensitivity towards the setting of the [Park] and local landscape character.”

To view the application, log on to publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk and search for 24/02918/OUTEIA.