Key projects for 2025 outlined by Chichester District council

The projects were outlined in the council's new Corporate Plan until 2026, which was approved at the Full Council meeting on Tuesday 26 February 2025.

At the meeting councillors agreed to set aside £3.9 million from the council's reserves to fund these large-scale projects and also agreed to ringfence a further £3 million for projects that may arise from the Climate Change Action Plan; the Regeneration Strategy; and, the Housing, Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.

The council is keen to develop short and long-term premises options for its depot site where services such as waste and recycling collections, green spaces, street cleaning are based. 

Because of an increase in demand, the premises needs be able to accommodate more staff, waste and recycling collection vehicles as well as the new food waste collection service. The council will also be introducing Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) for the waste collection fleet as an alternative to diesel and this will significantly reduce the council's carbon omissions.

The council has also agreed that £600,000 should go towards a project being led by West Sussex County Council to improve the pavements in Chichester City Centre and enhance the street scene.

Over the coming year the council also plans to carry out further archaeological excavations in Chichester's Priory Park, with councillors approving a budget of £225,000 for this. In addition, the council will also be seeking grant funding and crowd funding for this project.

Last year an archaeological dig revealed the remains of a masonry bridge standing in the centre of the ditch of the Norman motte and bailey castle. As a result the council wants to carry out further investigation of the remains of the Norman castle, by using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and further community excavation to find out the full extent of the masonry and earthworks.

In addition, there is a strong desire to consider the possibility of making more of the remains available for permanent public view. The first phase of work would be to carry out the radar work and excavations in 2025, while the second phase of the project would not be undertaken until at least 2027 and would depend on securing external funding.

Other smaller projects identified by the council for the coming year include working with a potential tenant to bring Priory Park's Brick Pavilion building back into use for the community.

Funding was also agreed for another smaller project to purchase an extra food waste collection vehicle for its Business Food Waste Collection service. This will support the service's continued expansion, especially with recent government waste reforms which mean that all food producing businesses must have a separate food waste collection in place by March 2025.

"Our aim is to be a proactive, forward-thinking council that creates opportunities for our residents by supporting the economic growth, wellbeing and cultural life of our communities across the whole district, and that leads on carbon reductions and restoring nature, and I am confident that our plan meets these aims," says Councillor Adrian Moss, Leader of Chichester District Council and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Growth. "We're looking forward to working on the key projects that we have set for the coming year and are confident that these will bring many benefits to our residents.

"Ensuring that our depot teams and functions can grow and be properly accommodated is a real priority at the moment, and so we are looking forward to progressing this project as this will benefit all our residents.

"We know that the condition of the pavements in the city centre is an issue of concern to many people and so we are pleased to be supporting the county council on this project which arose from the Vision work that was carried out.

"I think residents will be really pleased that work to bring the Brick Pavilion back into use will be progressing and that further archaeological work will be taking place in Priory Park. The park is one of the district's jewels, and so these projects will really help to enhance the park and support the local economy as well."

People can read the Corporate Plan and also view a webcast of the Full Council meeting where the plan was discussed by going to the council's Committees, Councillors and MPs web page. 

Date of Release: 26 February 2025

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