Many of you objected to this application during the consultation period, as did this Council and East Preston Parish Council.  The application was considered at a meeting of the Arun District Council Planning Committee on 20th March, 2024 and the decision was made to Approve conditionally, subject to a Section 106 agreement. (see Arun District Council Section 106 Agreements) 

Thank you to those who attended the meeting to speak or observe.

We have been asked what other actions residents can take. This Council has submitted a call-in request to the Planning Casework Unit (PCU) asking that the application be called in for a decision by the Secretary of State. See our call-in request (now with additional wording). 

Anyone can do this.  The call-in request is being actively considered by the PCU so residents need to act quickly to get their own requests in before a decision on call-in is made by the Secretary of State.

Applicants should give clear reasons why they think that the application should be called-in, importantly, this should include why it is of more than local importance. The email address for the Planning Casework Unit is pcu@communities.gov.uk. 

We should point out that in the document Calling-in planning applications (England), it says "in practice, however, it is (and has been for some time) Government policy only to call-in a very small number of planning applications every year and so the Secretary of State uses his powers sparingly".  This document also sets out the criteria for call-in.  Criteria examples:

• may conflict with national policies on important matters;

• may have significant long-term impact on economic growth and meeting housing needs across a wider area than a single local authority;

• could have significant effects beyond their immediate locality;

• raise significant architectural and urban design issues; or