Agenda item

So as to provide the best opportunity for the Committee to provide the public with the fullest answer, questions from the public should be submitted by midday on Wednesday 31 May 2023.

Where relevant notice of a question has not been given, the person presiding may either choose to give a response at the meeting or respond by undertaking to provide a written response within three working days.

Questions should be submitted to Democratic Services –

democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk

(Note:  Public Question Time will last for a maximum of 30 minutes)

There was one public question submitted on behalf of AREA-

There are currently three large construction sites in central Shoreham with another large development in the pipeline.

The noise, dust and pollution are causing distress and anxiety to local residents who live nearby.  AREA has been contacted by residents whose physical and mental health is being impacted by living in the middle of what amounts to a huge building site.

My question is;

Did Adur Council not think through the consequences of so many developments happening at the same time and what plans does the Council have to support and compensate those local residents whose lives are being made so unbearable.

The Planning Service Manager replied –

The Council is not aware, at the time of granting planning permission, when developments will be built. Our planning permission is started with a three year timescale but once started, a development can be built in phases. Freewharf is an example of this, with permission being granted in 2018. The Council has no power to stagger the implementation of planning permissions.

Each permission does have a number of conditions to mitigate the impact of developments including a construction management plan which would include dust suppression measures.

Having heard about the concerns of residents via your question we are keen to investigate. As it stood, before today, we didn’t have any outstanding complaints, either to the Planning Officers, the Enforcement Section or to Environmental Health.

Environmental Health are not aware of any complaints about Freewharf. Complaints about Kingston wharf and one complaint about the Mannings were received over three months ago and actioned at the time but nothing has been received since.

We have received a complaint today, however and this has been sent to Planning Enforcement. This is about the issues you have raised and this will be investigated and if conditions have been breached we will take appropriate action.

A supplementary question was asked –

It does seem that Adur Council could be doing to help residents. For instance do you have meetings with West Sussex County Council or highways England regarding the road congestion?

The Planning Service Manager replied –

The primary contact is at the application stage. It’s normally with West Sussex County Council as Highways England only has responsibility for A roads. It’s unfortunate that we are not the Highways Authority for the area. As it is we don’t have a decision making function beyond dealing with a planning application. If a planning application has been granted, which has been the subject of consultation with West Sussex County Council, that’s one aspect and the consequences of that is a separate matter. We do meet with the County Council quite regularly regarding formulation of future policy. This committee is dealing with planning applications and once they are decided on, the role of the committee is more or less finished.

In terms of the Adur Local Plan, and what happens in the future, we are reviewing the local plan now and that is the subject of quite detailed consultations with the County Council. From a development management view, unfortunately, national planning policy is not set in favour of protecting residents from those extreme impacts. The guidance dictates that those impacts have to be severe before we can consider refusing planning permission.

Perhaps, once the planning permissions that have been granted are completed and residents have experienced the consequences of that, I would encourage them to engage with the local plan process at the correct time and point out what happened during the last plan regarding developments that have been completed and suggest those consequences should be held in primary forethought before anything gets allocated and developed in the future.