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Dear Members
I hope that you, your family and friends have managed to cope with “lockdown” and are now beginning to enjoy the increasing freedoms to meet up once again.
Our previous Newsletter was distributed back in December 2020 and although we have not been in touch with our members since then, we have been working hard to bring forward our scheme for the land at Mill Road. This Newsletter will update you on the progress we have been making.
When the Trust held its first Annual General Meeting in December 2020, we provided a progress report on all our activities including an update on the planning application for Mill Road. A report summarising progress was published on the Trust’s website. At that time the Trust had submitted to the District Council all of the information they required to make a decision on our planning application apart from one particular issue that had only recently been identified as a requirement. That issue relates to Nitrate Mitigation.
The need for Nitrate Mitigation now affects all types of residential development in the Solent area. Natural England will object to all new residential development where the surface and waste water drains ultimately into the Solent unless Nitrate Mitigation can be provided. To overcome this objection, it must be demonstrated that the proposal is “nitrate neutral”. Over many years, excess nitrate emissions have been causing high levels of concentration in the Solent waters with an adverse impact on their quality and biodiversity. Existing and new residential use and agricultural use generate significant nitrate emissions which cannot be removed through sewage processing at wastewater treatment plants or through normal surface water drainage. The approach that Chichester District Council and Natural England now require is to find a way of mitigating any additional nitrate emission from all new residential development. The requirement to make residential development “nitrate neutral” generally involves finding a way of minimising the level of emission as far as possible through the design of the development and then mitigating any residual nitrate emission by setting aside agricultural land and using it for nature conservation purposes.
The Trust has now identified a solution to this by agreeing with a local agricultural land owner that a portion of land on the farm can be set aside for tree planting. The area of land is sufficient to mitigate the additional nitrate generation from the proposed development at Mill Road. The proposals have been agreed by Natural England and Chichester District Council.
So, with this matter now resolved, we have been advised by Chichester District Council that we have satisfactorily dealt with the technical information they require to make a decision on the planning application and that they are minded to approve our proposals. During the last few months our solicitors have been in discussion with Chichester over the terms of a legal agreement that would be attached to the grant of planning permission. This agreement will ensure amongst other things, that the site can only be developed for rented affordable housing and that the nitrate mitigation scheme described above is carried out to their satisfaction. We are also in discussion about the basis upon which the land at Mill Road will be transferred to the Trust.
These complex legal matters will continue to be negotiated in the coming months but meanwhile the Trust is now undertaking a review of the costs of the scheme taking into account the current market conditions. We are also considering how to raise the finance for undertaking the construction of the development. We will be seeking grant funding from various sources including Homes England, Chichester District Council, The Parish Council and other charitable sources. We will also seek to borrow money based on our ability to finance the costs of borrowing from the income we will receive from the rents on the proposed housing.
The Trust remains focused on delivering this much needed affordable housing for the village that will provide accommodation for local people who cannot afford to buy or rent on the open housing market. The scheme will deliver a range of benefits to the local community including;
- 12 new affordable homes to rent to local people
- Parking space for the new homes as well as for the park and the allotments
- New off-street parking for residents of Mill Road
- New and improved play equipment in the park to replace existing equipment
- A new multi-use games area (MUGA) to replace the existing sports court
- A replacement skatepark
- A new jogging track around the park
- A new storage unit for the Allotment Association and the Parish Council
- A new pedestrian link from the school into the park
- Substantial new planting in the site and outside the site along the northern boundary
- A temporary route for construction traffic that will avoid the need to use Mill Road
We will continue to keep you updated on progress as we deal with the next stages identified above and would like to thank you all for your continuing support.
Frank Campbell
Chair of Westbourne Community Trust
June 2021
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