Extra strip of land next to A27 needed before work can start on building 1,300 homes west of Tangmere near Chichester

A Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) was made in November 2020 to acquire land from various owners in what was identified as a strategic development location.

But a second order became necessary after National Highways told the council that a small section of land at the Temple Bar Interchange, where the A285 meets the A27, had been missed as it had been incorrectly listed as adopted highway.

During a meeting of the full council on Tuesday (March 21), Tony Whitty, divisional manager for planning policy said: “This has meant that there is no right of access across [into the development] already granted and why we now need to enter into CPO2 following further negotiations to try to acquire that land.”

Councillors agreed that a second Order should be made, encompassing all the land in the first Order plus the missed land next to the interchange.

The first Order expires in November 2024.

A public inquiry into the second Order is expected to start in January 2024, with the Secretary of State’s due to give the go-ahead in the April.

If all goes as planned, site preparation works /ground works should start in early 2025, with infrastructure work and construction being phased in later that year.

Each phase will require a reserved matters application, showing things such as the layout and look of the homes, be approved by the planning committee.

The first homes are expected to be completed and available for occupation within 12-18 months of the council’s planning partner Countryside Properties starting work on the site.

Outline permission for the overall development was granted by CDC back in March 2021 as the site had been allocated in the 2015 local plan.

And Countryside Properties was appointed by the council as its development partner all the way back in February 2019.

As for the original CPO, this was approved by a planning inspector in December 2021, subject to some small modifications after an inquiry was held in September of that year.