Loxwood homes and new village shop approved

Plans to build 27 homes and a shop in Loxwood have been approved by Chichester District Council.
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The application, from Antler Homes, was given the nod at a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (January 6).

The prospect of gaining a much-needed village shop led to villagers and councillors alike supporting the plans – but there were serious concerns about how well the sewerage infrastructure in the area would cope with the extra homes.

It’s an issue which has been raised before.

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In August, plan for 50 homes just up the road were approved despite the sewerage system being described as ‘fragile’ and the parish council sharing tales of sewage overflowing into residents’ gardens and toilets.

Peter Wilding (Con,  Fernhurst) told the meeting it was becoming a district-wide problem.

He added: “The local sewerage infrastructure is already inadequate and causes flooding. The permission of 50 houses in August and the application for these houses will make the problem even worse.”

Roy Briscoe agreed, saying the council ‘really need to push Southern Water to start delivering for us’.

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A report to the committee included a condition that no work would start until details of a scheme to deal with sewage disposal had been submitted and approved.

In addition, no one would be able to move into the new homes until sewerage infrastructure upgrades had been made or an interim plan to get rid of sewage had been agreed and put in place.

Sewerage aside, the village shop proved to be a winner with councillors and residents alike.

It will be built first.

The development itself will be made up of six one-bedroom flats, six two-bedroom houses, two two-bedroom flats, ten three-bedroom houses and three four-bedroom houses.

All eight of the flats will be classed as affordable.

A public footpath which currently cuts across the site will be diverted so that it runs alongside it instead.