Letter to The Rt Hon Michael Gove, MP
Dear Mr Gove,
Arun District Council notes the ministerial comments made by you for Housing Today dated 27 June 2023 and the letter sent to MPs stating that the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill would be amended to abolish local mandatory house building targets. You also added that "there is no truly objective way of calculating how many new homes are needed in an area". The change would make the centrally determined target a "starting point", with councils able to propose building fewer homes if they faced "genuine constraints" or would have to build at a density that would "significantly change the character of their area”. You have also been quoted as saying that the planning system is "not working as it should" and that new development must have "the support of the local communities". You also add that it must be accompanied by the right infrastructure!
Constraints in The Arun District loom large with the fairly recently formed South Downs' National Park to the north concentrating development in our district and to the south we have The English Channel! Furthermore, the coastal plain is low-lying and increasingly liable to flooding, given sea level rises. The character of our erstwhile rural Sussex is being eroded and we are losing some of the most productive and versatile land with the longest growing season and best winter light currently producing 10% of The UK salad crops.
There is surely a compelling case for this district to be accorded exception status in terms of further development and some allocations in The Local Plan do not meet the criterion of being remotely acceptable to the local population who despair regarding infrastructure deficit. Further depletion of our green fields coupled with new housing adding to the already outdated and failing sewage system detract from the area as a tourist destination and the discharges of raw sewage into our seas are hitting the local economy.
Local residents in general feel we need to look at a moratorium on large scale development not addressing local needs until the sewage issues are resolved, for currently sewage is being tankered around the county because provision is not in place in some parts of Arun.
Southern Water’s proposed action plan to reduce discharges in seas and rivers does not go far enough and we urge you as the Government to pressurise the company to expedite their action.
In terms of future housing, we need to prioritise social housing and low-cost starter homes as these are needed by local people in a low wage economy. It would help greatly to have a housing target that is both realistic, recognises local need and one which does not double the number of houses we historically have been able to build per annum in Arun District.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Martin Lury
Chair - Planning Policy Committee
Co-Signatories:
Councillor Matt Stanley
Leader of the Council
Councillor Mike Northeast
Group Leader of the Labour Group
Councillor Sue Wallsgrove
Group Leader of the Green Group
Councillor David Huntley
Group Leader of the Independent Group