Issue details

Recreational disturbance of protected bird populations has been an issue for planning applications affecting Chichester Harbour for some time and is now mitigated though a Solent-wide approach.  The same issue is now affecting planning applications within 3.5km of Pagham Harbour.

Pagham is not yet included in the Solent–wide scheme, and is unlikely to be so before 2017 at the earliest.  A joint approach has been drawn up with Arun District Council, the RSPB (site managers) and Natural England.  This will enable the granting of planning permissions without Natural England objections.

Policy 51 of the Chichester Local Plan allows for the collection of contributions from developers to fund mitigation measures in-perpetuity, but does not specify the details of a scheme.  This report recommends adopting a joint scheme with Arun including a common level of developer contributions.  It recommends approval for the holding of funds by Chichester DC on behalf of both authorities.  The report also seeks approval for expenditure of the s106 funds so collected, initially by a four year agreement with the RSPB for the provision of additional wardening at the nature reserve.