Plan will help to secure money for A27 mitigation measures in Chichester

A plan that sets out how Chichester District Council will secure the money needed to help fund improvements to the A27 as a result of new residential development will go out to public consultation later this month.

The decision to approve the A27 Chichester Bypass Mitigation Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for consultation was made by Chichester District Council's Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday 5 September 2023.

The aim of the document — which is separate to the emerging Local Plan currently being prepared by the council's Planning Policy Team — is required to secure around £27 million from developers. This is to meet the hugely increased costs of delivering key improvements to the Fishbourne and Bognor junctions which at the moment have a combined cost of about £43.3 million.

Ensuring appropriate A27 mitigation is secured is vital in order to offset the impact of new development coming forward both at the current time and that which has been identified within the emerging Local Plan 2021-2039.

The money is secured through Planning Obligations which are specific legal agreements used to make sure new development is acceptable in planning terms and that any improvements are carried out and / or funded.

"The process set out in the document we have just approved for consultation is a vital stop gap which we need now in order to cover development proposals until the emerging Local Plan is adopted," explains Council Leader, Adrian Moss. "It formalises the approach that our planning officers are already taking to A27 contributions but also makes it much clearer by breaking down the developer contributions to different levels, depending on the number of bedrooms in each property. This is to ensure that the contributions appropriately reflect the impact generated by the required mix of homes to be built in the district.

Cllr Moss adds: "The key thing that I would like to stress is that this does not affect the process of the timetable relating to the Local Plan, but this is an important tool needed at the moment to collect a higher level of contributions necessary in order to deliver the junction improvements required to match current development needs.

"Although we are not involved in the delivery of road improvements themselves, we are as the local planning authority, expected to collect the money from developers which will then be used to provide the identified mitigation."

The consultation is expected to be launched shortly and people will be able to find this at the council's Lets Talk Surveys&nbsp when it is live.

Date of release: 7 September 2023

Reference: 4269