North Bersted woman's jobs plea helps scrap development scheme

An impassioned plea by Ms Saunders for councillors to reject plans to build homes on the Chalcroft Nursery site was successful.

The nursery manager said she was pleased with the outcome.

"It's a good decision. I am happy with it for the moment," she stated after the meeting.

Ms Saunders told committee members they should be backing her as a young woman who had built up a floristry business in the seven years she had worked at the site rather than allowing homes to be built there.

"I've lived in North Bersted all my life and worked at the nursery since I was 17," she said.

"Jobs in Bognor Regis are not easy to come by. Many local businesses have been hard hit by the recession.

"The fact so many people have signed letters showing their feelings against this development shows local democracy in action and should not be disregarded."

Her comments were supported by two further speakers at the meeting of Arun District Council's development control committee.

One of them, Bersted district councillor Ann Smee, said four businesses with 12 employees existed on the site.

"Bognor needs jobs more than houses. There is no justification for destroying businesses which are thriving and could create more jobs in the future," she said.

A total of 627 people had sent letters to the council opposing the plans. Bersted Parish Council and Willowhale Allotments' Association also objected.

Councillors agreed with the sentiments. An 80-minute debate ended in a rejection of the housing plans by 9-2, with two abstentions.

This was followed by another vote '“ eight for and one against with three abstentions '“ in favour of five reasons for refusal.

These were the location of the nursery outside the built-up area, the site's exclusion from the council's land allocation for housing and the desire to stop development in the strategic gap which separates the Bognor and Chichester areas.

In addition, the developer had failed to pay the money required to improve public services such as libraries and schools to meet demand from the occupiers of the proposed homes and had yet to sign a deal to provide affordable housing as part of the intended estate.

The outline development proposals were submitted for the 2.5-hectare site by Orchard Enterprises (Southern).

The company wanted to demolish all the existing buildings and replace them with up to 70 homes, including 28 affordable properties, public open space and landscaping.

It is the second application in four years to redevelop the land.

Council planning officer Keith Wheway told councillors planning issues had changed since the last application was rejected in March 2007.

The council lacked the five-year supply of housing land required by the government because of the builders' failure to start work on the site six development of 650 homes.

This had seen councillors' refusal of planning permission to build homes on a Yapton industrial estate overturned by a planning inspector.

He believed it was reasonable to redevelop the Chalcroft Nursery site because it was next to existing housing and the proposed scheme would make little difference to the landscape.

"In planning terms, the loss of the existing businesses is not a material consideration," he told the committee.

"You can't take that into account."

He also pointed out flooding concerns had been satisfied by the Environment Agency and Southern Water.

But councillors made it clear they were unhappy with the proposals.

Andrew Evans said: "Why are we even contemplating taking away something from a local area which will force people to drive several miles to another location?

"This will mean the loss of local businesses, albeit small. To my mind, that outweighs a lot of other considerations."

Jacqueline Maconachie said no-one could be sure the land would be developed quicker than any other site.

"I don't believe any site is more deliverable than any other in the current financial climate.

"There are no guarantees of that if this gets permission this afternoon," she stated.

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