The amount of development

The starting point in national policy is that local planning authorities should meet their full need for development. However, the small, heavily urbanised nature of the borough, and the physical constraints of the coastline and South Downs mean that this is extremely challenging.

For the borough, the government has calculated our housing need be 892 new homes each year, equivalent to 17,840 homes between 2023 and 2043.

The council will need to show that it has left ‘no stone unturned’ in identifying available and suitable sites which can provide new homes. A comprehensive assessment of each submitted site has been undertaken to check its suitability, which has resulted in the proposed sites for development on the following page.

Despite this – there remains a large gap between the borough’s housing need and the homes that can be provided on these sites. The borough will be 9,292 homes short of the government target – that’s 465 new homes annually.

There is also not enough land to meet the borough’s economic development needs. Whilst total demand for commercial development is calculated at 175,199 sq m by 2043, only 123,775 sq m will be possible on the sites available. This represents a shortfall of 51,424 sq m – that’s a 2,571 sq m annual shortfall.

This means going forwards with a plan which falls short of government requirements, but there are clear local physical and environmental constraints which prevent us from doing more.