Sports facilities at new development west of Chichester approved

Sports facilities at a new Chichester development west of Chichester have been approved.
Proposed new sports pavilion within the west of Chichester developmentProposed new sports pavilion within the west of Chichester development
Proposed new sports pavilion within the west of Chichester development

Linden Homes and Miller Homes are in the process of building 750 homes as part of the first phase of the Whitehouse Farm development.

As part of the first phase it is due to deliver recreational facilities including a sports pavilion, rugby pitch, cricket pitch and adult football pitch.

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The pavilion would include changing rooms, toilets, lockers, store rooms, a club social care with kitchen and a covered external viewing terrace area.

Proposed new sports pavilion within the west of Chichester developmentProposed new sports pavilion within the west of Chichester development
Proposed new sports pavilion within the west of Chichester development

An application for the facilities was approved by Chichester District Council’s planning committee earlier this month.

The site is at the southern end of the wider development site, with temporary access proposed from Clay Lane until the second phase of the wider masterplan is delivered.

A total of 35 car parking spaces would be provided, as well as a coach drop-off space and 60 cycle spaces.

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The main public objections came from cycle campaigners who raised safety concerns about the Clay Lane access which has a shared cycle and pedestrian path proposed on only one side.

Ian Sumnall, Chichester & District Cycle Forum, said: “Without cycle paths on both sides of the new access road there will be unnecessary dangerous turning movements into and from Clay Lane which could largely be avoided.”

Meanwhile Mark Record, also from the cycle forum and a member of the Friends of Centurion Way, pointed out that the southern access road did not even have permission yet.

Rob Collett, a planning director at Miller Homes, said the application did not seek to predetermine the route of the southern access road and they would be consulting the public on this when the lockdown ends.

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Henry Potter (Con, Goodwood) suggested 35 car parking spaces would not be enough, while Gordon McAra (Ind, Midhurst) called for a much larger recreation space in the pavilion.

Sarah Sharp (Green, Chichester South) questioned the lack of electric vehicle charging points and called on the council to start delivering ‘proper’ dedicated infrastructure for cyclists and not shared paths with pedestrians.

She felt they needed a delay, explaining: “If we just let these things slip through without doing a proper rigorous job I just think the community will be very annoyed and cross with us.”

Officers argued this was an access point for the sports pitches and not a spine road for the whole development at the moment.

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Sports facilities brought forward in phase two of the development would have extra parking, while electric vehicle charging points had only been secured in phase one at the proposed community centre.

Officers said they had pushed the developers ‘as hard as we can’ on the size of the social space in the pavilion, while a larger building would be more expensive to maintain and run.

After a lengthy debate the application was approved by nine votes to one.

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