Strong opposition to 113 homes planned for hamlet near Chichester

The hybrid plans for Charmans Field, in Marsh Lane, have caused so much concern that they will be discussed during an extraordinary meeting of Oving Parish Council next week.

The hybrid application, from Landlink Estates Ltd, seeks full permission to build 26 homes on the site – complete with a new access from Lagness Road, drainage and landscaping – as well as outline permission for a second phase of up to 87 homes.

A design statement submitted by the applicant said the development would provide a mix of accommodation, from one-bedroom starter homes through to five-bedroom family homes, with 30 per cent of the housing being classed as affordable.

Locals, though, have not been impressed, with some launching a campaign to try to stop the development.

Chichester District Council has received more than 70 letters of objection to the plans.

The main causes for concern were the aesthetic impact on the area, the loss of agricultural land, the increase in traffic and congestion on the Lagness Road, the lack of health and school infrastructure and the risk of flooding on Marsh Lane.

One objector wrote: “Charman’s Field is a piece of prime agricultural land which should be maintained for local food production.

“This land is not earmarked for development on the Chichester Local Plan, and this application represents an opportunistic submission by developers totally out of keeping with the area.”

Another added: “I am heartily sick of this ‘urbanisation’ of our local area, and the wider Chichester area.

“It used to be a lovely area, but that is now fast changing, and we need to stop it before there’s nothing left that’s worth preserving.”

The applicant, though, said in the design statement that the development was ‘characterful’ and would ‘work well and add to the overall quality of the village setting’,

One interesting feature of the site is the fact that the line of the early 19th century Chichester to Arundel Canal runs across its northern part.

While the canal has long-since been filled in and any remaining earthworks lost to ploughing, Landlink Estates, which is part of the Longmead Group, said attenuation basins – used to store excess rain and storm water – would ‘mark’ its route.

The extraordinary meeting will be held on Monday (November 15) at Jubilee Hall, High Street, from 6.45pm.

To view the application in full, log on to publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk/online-applications and search for 21/02573/FUL.