Summersdale Neighbourhood Character Appraisal - Introduction

Summersdale Neighbourhood Character Appraisal
Introduction

Several villages around Chichester have written Village Design Statements
(VDS) and had them accepted by the Executive of Chichester District
Council (CDC) as material considerations in the determination of planning
applications. The Summersdale Residents Association (SRA) believed a
similar such document would provide a measure of enlightened protection
against inappropriate development in its historic suburb. Detailed research
into the area’s housing stock and its settlement pattern provided the base
data.

Several examples of local VDS were studied and typical contents defined
before it became apparent that they were invariably written in conjunction
with the appropriate Parish Council, the first legitimate layer of local
government, thereby conferring status on the documents. Summersdale is
not a village but a neighbourhood or suburb, so the SRA document came
to be known as a Neighbourhood Appraisal. To enhance its prospects of
acceptance by the Executive, the CDC advised the SRA to develop it in
conjunction with its own Parish Council — namely the Chichester City
Council. The SRA’s subsequent membership of the NE Chichester City
Forum would facilitate closer links with the statutory bodies represented
thereon.

Links with the City Council were established in late 2007 and agreement
reached that the City Council’s Planning & Conservation Committee (P&C)
would assume co-ownership of the document so as to use it as a
template for other groups within the City, each document supporting the
City Council’s next Town Plan. The SRA’s base data was shared with the
P&C Committee, and development of the collaborative document began in
early 2008. The format for the document was devised by a sub-group of
the P&C Committee, and the title changed to Summersdale
Neighbourhood Character Appraisal, in line with the Chichester District
Council’s document — the Chichester Conservation Area Character
Appraisal. The size of the document was prescribed, as was the need for
some form of community involvement.

After adoption by the City Council, the joint Appraisal will be published
and comments invited via newsletters, notice boards, and the web sites of
both the City Council and the SRA. All comments will be welcomed and
reflected in the document to be submitted to the District Council for
approval and wider circulation.