Ice rink in Chichester could damage Priory Park

The planning application for the ice rink in Priory Park has many similarities to the Velo South Cycle event.
Priory Park. Google Maps. PPP-181030-102525003Priory Park. Google Maps. PPP-181030-102525003
Priory Park. Google Maps. PPP-181030-102525003

Like that application, it appears to be being rushed through the planning process in order to satisfy the commercial requirements of the promoter and the papers submitted by him to the officers of Chichester District Council to the planning committee were incomplete, with no noise, traffic, safeguarding or other relevant statements.

They need to go back to the drawing board and consider all impacts this will have, not just on local business, as this event may well draw money away from the city but it also will affect it residents in the area and other visitors to Chichester who will not be able to find parking at this already busy time of year.

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This application has been discussed for the past two years. Why has it only become available to the public a matter of weeks before the event is due to start, thus reducing the opportunity for public debate and consultation?

The inclusion of a skating rink over the Christmas period works well in many cities but none of them are sited in a residential area and in what is essentially a Grade I listed park in all but name.

Many are also unlicensed and closed in the evenings.

There will be damage to the park and the residents subjected to generators running 24 hours a day, which is unacceptable.

At the same planning meeting, an application to redirect a bridleway was turned down because of the potential impact of sound and disturbance on crested newts.

It’s a shame the same was not afforded to the residents around Priory Park.

Guy Knight, St Martins Square, Chichester