Decision on 300-home Bosham development delayed due to flooding concerns

The application, for land north of Highgrove Farm, Main Road, received no support from members of the planning committee during a meeting on Wednesday (November 9).

The recommendation to defer came from Roy Briscoe (Con, Westbourne), who said the council had received photographs showing that the site had flooded.

He suggested a one month delay so that committee members could visit the site and see for themselves how the issue might be dealt with.

Drainage was one of a string of concerns raised in the 255 objections received by the council.

While officers acknowledged that there were issues on the north-western and south-western parts of the site, the meeting was told that they were confident the drainage proposed by applicant Barratt David Wilson Homes was ‘satisfactory’.

Mr Briscoe also said he had ‘strong concerns’ about how well Southern Water would deal with this latest pressure on the waste-water system.

It was a concern shared by others, especially as Southern Water’s own statement to the committee indicated that the extra homes could increase the risk of foul flooding from the sewer network.

The statement added that the company would provide ‘any network reinforcement that is deemed necessary to mitigate this’.

As well as the new homes – 90 of which would be classed as affordable – the application included a community hall, some 2.8ha of public open space, allotments, an equipped play area and a mini grass football pitch.

Questions were asked about the football pitch – which was described as a last minute addition – with Bosham Parish Council wanting to know why there had been no consultation about its inclusion.

And, while every home would have electric vehicle parking and 90 would have solar panels, Sarah Sharp (Green, Chichester South) asked why none would be included on the community hall.

In the end, the committee voted to defer the application so that the site visit could be carried out.

They also asked for an update from Southern Water and an explanation from West Sussex Highways about how the development would impact on the local road network.

To view the application, log on to publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk and search for BO/21/00571/FUL.