Chichester Local Plan moves to the next stage

The Chichester Local Plan 2021-2039 was submitted to the government's Planning Inspectorate for examination in May last year. Since then, two independent Planning Inspectors have been reviewing the plan document, alongside a range of supporting documents and comments from the most recent public consultation.

As part of this examination, the Inspectors led a series of public hearings last year, before issuing a post hearings advice letter, which can be viewed on The Local Plan examination - latest news web page. 

In a meeting of Full Council this week, Chichester District councillors agreed that the proposed 'Main Modifications' needed to make the plan 'sound' are now ready for residents and businesses to view and comment on.

The public consultation will run for six weeks, between 10 April and 29 May 2025, and people will be able to access this consultation from 10 April, by visiting The Local Plan examination - main modifications consultation web page. 

Cllr Bill Brisbane, Cabinet Member for Planning at Chichester District Council, says: "The examination process assesses whether the plan has met the legal requirements; whether it has been positively prepared and is justified, effective and consistent with national policy; and if the council has engaged and worked effectively with neighbouring authorities and statutory bodies.

"As part of this, the Inspectors not only reviewed the plan itself, but also the evidence on which it is based, along with a series of modifications that we proposed to address consultation feedback. Following the examination hearings, we received a written letter earlier this year, which detailed the Inspectors' initial findings and recommended the way forward. The letter identified some Main Modifications that need to be made in order for the plan to be considered for adoption. We are now at the point of consulting on these main modifications."

In line with the government's examination process, residents and businesses will only be able to comment on the modifications being proposed for the plan. People won't be able to comment on parts of the plan that are not proposed to be modified. Comments and representations made in the previous Local Plan consultations have already been considered by the Inspectors and do not need to be resubmitted.

A full list of the Main Modifications will be available to view from 10 April. Alongside the main modifications, there are a series of additional modifications, which are factual updates and corrections, and members of the public will be able to comment on these as part of the consultation, if they wish to — however comments on those will not be considered by the Inspector but by the council.

Once the consultation is completed, all comments on the Main Modifications will be reviewed by the Planning Inspectors. If they are happy that the plan can proceed to adoption, they will write their final report, setting out the Main Modifications that the council must make in order to adopt the Local Plan.

The Local Plan identifies housing requirements, development areas for economic growth and locations for new homes in the Chichester plan area over the next 14 years. The Local Plan also has a raft of policies relating to climate change and the natural environment. There is a separate plan for areas located in the National Park and this is produced by the South Downs National Park Authority.

People can find more information about the Chichester Local Plan, including the council's Statement of Consultation — which summarises the work that has been done to prepare the plan — on the Local Plan web page. Links to recordings of all of the examination hearings can be found on the Local Plan Examination web page.  

Date of Release: 9 April 2025              

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