The consultation will last for 4 weeks from 19 April until 16 May 2021.

We hope to collect feedback through the current consultation to help inform the development proposals and the hybrid planning application, which we expect to submit to Arun District Council in summer 2021. This consultation represents a further opportunity to provide feedback following from the earlier consultation in the Summer 2020 which sought your views on the Framework Masterplan for the land at BEW.

Please submit your feedback using the ‘feedback’ tab on this website. Any further queries should be directed to Victoria Barrett-Mudhoo by telephone on 020 7837 4477 or email at bew@lichfields.uk.

A ‘hybrid’ application seeks outline planning permission for one part of a scheme and full (or “detailed”) planning permission for another part on the same site. For the outline part of the application, parameters are set for the scheme which are approved before a fully detailed proposal is put forward. Once outline permission is granted, a separate application needs to be submitted for the approval of the details (“reserved matters”) before work can start. To create a structure in which future detailed proposals must conform, the outline application will be accompanied by five Parameter Plans that will guide and control the development on the site. Design quality will be controlled through a set of Design Principles. The application subject to this consultation seeks detailed planning permission for the A29 realignment and outline planning permission for the land north of the railway line, including the east-west link road.

If the outline planning permission is granted, there will then be subsequent reserved matters applications. Reserved Matters applications provide more detail about development proposals, and it will be at this stage that you will be able to see what houses look like, what materials will be used and other detailed elements such as specific house locations, layouts and gardens.

The number of homes in the allocation has been established through the local plan process where the Council made an assessment of how many homes are needed in the area to address local needs. The allocation includes 3,000 homes in total and at least 2,300 home in the Local Plan period. As part of the Framework Masterplan process additional design and technical work was undertaken including careful testing of appropriate housing types and densities alongside the open space provision demonstrating that the allocation can comfortably accommodate an increased number of up to 4,300 homes. In terms of housing need after 2031, this will be assessed by Arun either as part of a review of the Local Plan or preparation of a new Local Plan in due course. Notwithstanding, the Framework Masterplan process provides the opportunity to comprehensively plan for an increased number of homes by allowing for the necessary infrastructure to be planned for. This application seeks to deliver 1,250 of these homes.

The scheme will retain the existing Public Rights of Way on the site and include upgrades to parts of these routes alongside a network of new pedestrian and cycle routes for the local community, including a wellbeing trail around the site. The existing site predominantly comprises private intensively farmed land and the proposed development will open this up to the public to provide 30ha of publicly accessible green space including most notably the Linear Park and new play space. The neighbourhood centre will also include community facilities available for local residents to use. The proposed car park and drop off facility will also help alleviate parking pressures at Barnham station. The scheme will also deliver the A29 realignment which will help alleviate traffic issues on the existing network.

The primary school is expected to be delivered in the first phase of the application and the timing of delivery within this phase is under discussion to ensure it comes forward at the appropriate time to meet demand. The precise point that it will be delivered will be secured through the Section 106 Agreement as part of the planning application. Given the scale of the proposal, the school is an important element of the masterplan which must be provided in order to support the new housing.

The Southern Consortium will be led by the NHS Coastal West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on the primary health care requirements arising from the development. It is understood that the CCG’s current preference is for expansion of an existing off-site facilities, such as the Croft Practice in Barnham. Financial contributions will be agreed as part of the legal agreement for individual planning applications for the CCG to deliver these facilities to meet the needs of the new development.

The delivery of the A29 will be informed by the ongoing transport modelling work and is currently expected to be delivered in sections alongside the residential parcels starting at the northern end, to the south of Barnham Road, working south towards the Lidsey Bends. Further detail will be included in the planning application.

As with any new development it is anticipated that a proportion of residents will choose to use the private car over the use of public transport, thus increasing the overall number of vehicles utilising highway infrastructure. However, the scheme includes the realignment of the A29 and as identified in Local Plan Policy H SP2c SD5 this will be regarded as not only mitigating the effect of additional development traffic from the strategic site (of which this application forms a part), but will also provide significant additional benefits to the local road network and reduce the potential for future congestion in the wider area. Accordingly, once delivered, the A29 is expected to alleviate existing traffic issues on the existing network. The phasing work underway will inform how many homes can come forward ahead of the delivery of the full extent of the A29 realignment. Any potential effects of development related traffic are being investigated with the highway strategy and design being informed by the transport modelling that will be undertaken as part of the Transport Assessment report, which will be submitted with the planning application. This will utilise the WSCC strategic traffic model and outputs from this have been input into local junction models to assist with developing appropriate junction mitigation schemes.

The drainage strategy will promote a sustainable approach to managing rainfall runoff from the development. The proposed strategy will ensure that rain falling onto any new areas, including roofs, paving etc. will be collected and conveyed through the site via pipes and swales towards basins or ponds or captured at source in permeable paving, landscaped areas or tree pits. These will hold the water on site for longer to ‘slow the flow’ towards the point where it leaves the site in a controlled manner, allowing it to flow out at a rate that is much lower than predicted now. This will reduce problems associated with rainfall shedding off the site towards other areas, reduce flood risk downstream by lowering peak flow rates in the streams and may also limit infiltration to the ground that would likely have a positive impact on local groundwater levels.