Planning Objection
Mr Simon Meecham
Planning Policy and Conservation Team
Arun District Council
Arun Civic Centre
Maltravers Road
Littlehampton
West Sussex
BN17 5LF
3 October 2012
Dear Mr Meecham
Further to my holding letter of Friday 31 September, I am writing to object to the planning application by Barratt David Wilson (Southampton) Ltd to build 150 houses east of Roundstone Lane in Angmering (Reference Number A/82/12). Alongside my recent submission to the Arun Local Plan consultation, I would urge the Council to take note of the objections which I set out here and which I make on behalf of the communities I represent.
My principal objection to this application is that it pre-empts both Arun District Council's Local Plan and Angmering Parish Council's Neighbourhood Plan. It is essential that these processes are allowed to run so as to reach a correct determination both of the right level of new housing in Angmering and where that allocation should be located.
The whole point of the new planning process recently agreed by Parliament is to ensure that local communities have the power and responsibility to determine the nature of housing provision in their area. I fear that this speculative application will trigger a chain of development on nearby sites, including the Rugby Club, regardless of the Councils' plans, potentially leading to a level of housebuilding in an area which would neither receive local support nor be appropriate for the village.
As I stated in my submission to the Arun Local Plan consultation, there are existing infrastructure problems in Angmering. The population of the village has already grown by over a third in little over a decade without the necessary improvement in infrastructure. It is essential that the new local plans address these issues before random further development on a significant scale is permitted.
I do not normally register formal objections to individual planning applications such as this. However, I feel strongly that the new planning process, and in particular the drawing up of Angmering's new Neighbourhood Plan with local democratic support, should not be undermined by a speculative planning application.
I hope that the Council will note these views and reject this application.
Yours sincerely
NICK HERBERT