Appeal for the building of 25 houses in Birdham dismissed

The application BI/20/03034/OUT was refused by notice on August 4, 2021.

The development proposed ‘the erection of 25 dwellings comprising of 17 open market and 8 affordable units with access, landscaping open space and associated works’ on Church Lane in Birdham.

The proposed development would have also included some affordable housing and a central village green.

Birdham Parish Council strongly objected to the plans as the majority of the development site is within the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

In its submission the parish council also argued the application was contrary to the neighbourhood plan’s vision, while the scheme’s design was ‘unbalanced’ as in order to try and hide the development from Church Lane all the proposed houses were squeezed against existing properties in Cherry Lane and Walwyn Close ‘whilst leaving a large portion of the site undeveloped but still urbanised’.

In its statement of planning inspector Hilary Orr wrote: “Permission should be refused for major development, other than in exceptional circumstances, and where it can be demonstrated that the development is in the public interest.

"Whilst I accept that the current proposal occupies a smaller area of land than that proposed by the previous dismissed appeal.

“Nonetheless, it would still occupy a substantial area of land when compared to the existing settlement pattern in the area.

“The proposal would result in 25 dwellings, together with parking, internal roads, formal gardens and the domestic paraphernalia usually associated with residential development, into an area of land, previously free from development.

"To my mind, this quantum of development would fail to conserve or enhance the landscape and would result in significant harm to the natural beauty of this significantly constrained part of the CHAONB.

“For the above reasons and for the purposes I find that it is reasonable to conclude that the scale and setting of the proposed development represents major development in the context of this site and its location in the CHAONB.

"For the above reasons the appeal is dismissed.”