Agenda item

The Cabinet is requested to consider the agenda report and its appendixand to make the following recommendations to the special meeting of the Council at 14:00 on Monday 19 June 2017 namely that:

RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  The Draft Southern Gateway Masterplan (set out in the appendix to the agenda report) be approved for public consultation.

(2)  Authority be delegated to the Head of Planning Services following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning Services to make minor amendments to the document prior to public consultation.

RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL

(1)  That the Draft Southern Gateway Masterplan (as set out in the appendix to the agenda report) be approved for public consultation.

(2)  That authority be delegated to the Head of Planning Services following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning Services to enable minor amendments to be made to the document prior to public consultation.

The Cabinet received and considered the agenda report and its appendix in the first agenda supplement (copies attached to the official minutes).

The report was presented by Mr Dignum.

Mr Allgrove and Mr Frost were in attendance for this item.

Mr Dignum said that Matthew Lappin of David Lock Associates, the town planning and urban design consultants engaged for the Chichester Southern Gateway Draft Masterplan (CSG DM) project (which included preparation of the Strategic Environmental Assessment) was present at this meeting and was available to answer the Cabinet’s questions. Mr Lappin would be giving a full presentation to the special meeting of the Council later in the day at 14:00 and would respond then to CDC members’ questions.

Mr Dignum presented the report, which stated that at this stage it was proposed to hold a public consultation on the CSG DM. He explained the relationship between the draft Chichester Vision process (he read out its theme) and the CSG DM (para 5.3 of the report). The Vision, which supported the enhanced role and function of the city centre as a leading visitor destination with a vibrant and growing economy that was also accessible and attractive, identified three major projects: CSG, the Northern Gateway and the West Street Piazza. The intention was to enhance the SG area of the city, which was a key point of arrival, by developing parcels of land to produce a comprehensive mixed use of housing, retail and commercial development, the last of which to include a hotel. The Canal Basin was identified as an important component in the masterplan scheme. Key priorities included (a) reducing the dominance of road traffic and congestion and (b) improving safety in the Southgate Gyratory and design quality (no building to be higher than four storeys). CDC was working closely with its partners and negotiations were taking place with Stagecoach and Royal Mail to achieve the relocation of their sites. This scheme had clear potential for delivery and there was a strong local appetite for the proposed residential and mixed use development. Funding was addressed in section 7 of the report and funding options would include the Local Enterprise Partnership and other government sources.     

Mr Allgrove advised that at a meeting of CDC’s Development Plan and Infrastructure Panel on Thursday 15 June 2017 it was questioned whether the transport appraisal for the CSG DM had been signed off. This was now the case after West Sussex County Council had made various proof-reading amendments to the transport appraisal report (which was then republished on the committee papers page of CDC’s website); the changes made were not fundamental. The consultation, if approved by the Council at its special meeting later in the day, would run from 29 June to 10 August 2017. The cost of the two highway options A and B had been updated respectively from £4m to £5.3m and £8m to £8.2m (page 138 of the second agenda supplement) and changes to pages 166 and 169 in particular would be incorporated into the documents prior to the start of the consultation.

Mr Dignum briefly summarised the principal difference between the traffic proposals in Options A and B. He said that the CSG DM, which after 12 months work was currently the most advanced of the three projects identified by the Chichester Vision, was a masterplan to guide new development and was not at this stage a prescriptive statement about how to develop this part of the city.

Mrs Kilby and Mrs Hardwick commended the document and the very hard work which had evidently been put into it by officers, members and the consultants.

In reply to Mrs Hardwick who, with reference to page 175 in the main agenda supplement, emphasised the need for the SG DM to identify very clearly that community health was a development objective, Mr Carvell confirmed that this would be added to the development aspirations on that page.

Mr Dignum thanked Mr Lappin for his attendance at this meeting.       

Decision

At the end of the discussion the Cabinet voted unanimously on a show of hands in favour of making the recommendations set out below.

RECOMMENDED TO THE COUNCIL

1)          That the Draft Southern Gateway Masterplan (as set out in the appendix to the agenda report) be approved for public consultation.

2)          That authority be delegated to the Head of Planning Services following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning Services to enable minor amendments to be made to the document prior to public consultation.