Welcome to the Local Alliance Blog

  I am happy to report we were successful in persuading the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to recommend to CDC’s Cabinet that they look at our revised proposal for a Towns and Villages Recovery Group next week.  Donna takes the lead now because the Cabinet meets on Tuesday at 9.30am whilst I am teaching and, to be fair, even though the end result was positive, she had to sit on the sidelines as she is not on O&S and was becoming increasingly frustrated at not being able to participate. If you are able, please be supportive and watch it live here, possibly posting your perspective as you do so . To contextualise matters, CDC has several themed District recovery teams plus a City High Street group. We are grateful for everything they are doing but there is a need for additional support outside of the City to complement the longer term projects of the respective Vision groups. We understand why the City is a significant concern, but feel the interdependence of the Dist...

  It's Half Term but our meetings don't stop; however, the special meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday is taking stock of CDC's recovery measures, and I have an opportunity to speak out for the 75% of our District that is not in the City. The Constitution does not allow Donna and I to bring back our proposal for an additional Recovery Group for the Peninsula at the moment, so this is a chance for me to argue again that more needs to be done to support our High Streets, small businesses and the people who work for them.  Children on free school meals are high in many people's thoughts this week as they could be going hungry. If you have children at school, you will know these are not a separate group, they are your children's friends. They may come round often, so the prospect of finding out they are only eating, at most, once a day may horrify you. If we can help, don't hesitate to get in touch. If you prefer more anonymity, this website...

  With Half Term only a week away, Donna and I are getting ready for the next stage in the Local Plan following the HELAA 2020 we have been telling you about in our recent posts . To give it its full name, the Housing & Economic Land Availability Assessment identifies places that potentially could be built upon to meet our District's obligations. The next stage is the HEDNA (Housing & Economic Development Needs Assessment) which identifies how much development is needed to meet them during the life of the next Local Plan. Once we have that, the last stage is agreeing the distribution of sites - which basically means allocating numbers to specific areas - assuming developers come forward. Donna and I appreciate the issues; this is not an easy situation. The Manhood Peninsula has very specific, unique challenges and has more AONBs, and SSSIs than anywhere else in the district; we have to be mindful of this and also the considerations of climate change, surface water and inf...

We previewed the forthcoming HELAA 2020 last week, which is now out so we can tell you more about it. The HELAA   identifies potential land that could ensure our District has a future supply until 2037. Landowners put sites forward for consideration and those which go through this particular technical test are included This does not mean they will be developed: it is not a policy document and CDC has a statutory obligation to publish a HEELA. As Donna and I pointed out last week, we believe it is important to consider the wider impact beyond the immediate area, near to where you live because traffic levels on local routes are heavily impacted by the total number of people using them wherever their journey originates from; in addition, flood risk can also be affected by how much development takes place in your more general neck of the woods . To illustrate this point, I have been commuting across our District for 15 years; I know where people reroute to avoid delays when the A27 ...

  I mentioned mince pies last week, so was not too surprised when I received an email about pop-up Christmas shops: if you fancy running one this year you can apply for the two CDC are making available in Crane Street, Chichester. Applications close on October 19 with the hope that the successful applicants can start trading from November 1 for up to 12 weeks. The rent of £50 per week plus VAT includes rates and utilities. To find out more click here and then expand the “Pop Up Shop Initiative” section.  You may have heard this week that two CDC Members have left the ruling Conservative group , something that changes the calculations on Committee numbers; this is in its earliest stages so once we know more we will let you know.  The bigger news is that the new Housing and Economic Land Area Availability Assessment (HELAA) is being made public on CDC’s website on Monday, we understand. As Members, we have already been sent copies; we aren’t allowed to divulge any part of ...