Plans for 2200 homes to be built on West Sussex site to create ‘thriving new rural community’

Church Commissioners and Landlink Estates submitted outline planning for 2,200-home mixed-use development, which will include 750 affordable homes.

Joanna Loxton, head of strategic land investment at Church Commissioners for England, said: “We’re extremely pleased to submit the outline application for this site, and believe the new community proposed will have much to offer both new and existing residents.

"We hope that the new development will be one of many that supports the Church’s vision for new housing, strengthening local communities in the process.”

According Church Commissioners for England, the mixed-use development will provide much needed housing and employment in one of the country’s most undersupplied and least affordable areas.

The 144-hectare West Bersted masterplan site lies on agricultural land to the north of Chalcraft Lane and will include an an employment hub and significant social infrastructure to create what developers call a ‘thriving new rural community’.

John Weir, head of real estate at Church Commissioners for England, said: “This scheme allows us to honour our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality homes to support the economic and social development of local communities.

“Front and centre of the Church’s commitments in the Coming Home report is the creation of healthy and vibrant housing, providing homes which are safe, sustainable and satisfying, and where residents feel able to put down roots for the future.

"This scheme supports a range of different housing needs and will make a positive contribution to the development of the Bersted area.”

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According to data from Savills, Arun District Council has some of West Sussex’s greatest need for housing and among the country’s highest house-price-to-earnings ratios.

The Scott Brownrigg-designed plan will feature over 480,000sq ft of employment space, local retail opportunities and community facilities such as a new primary school, sports pitches, space for healthcare facilities, a public library, significant new parkland and community allotments, as well as new footpaths and cycleways.

To support access to the development and ease traffic congestion, developers plan for a new spine road will be added from Chalcraft Lane to the A259 to the north.