'˜Glimmer of hope' for Oving traffic lights as decision is deferred

Chichester District Council planning committee was advised that it could only defer or refuse the amendment following a statement from the Secretary of State. Councillors agreed to defer the application for either for 12 months or until a preferred A27 option is given by the Department of Transport, whichever is sooner. Speaking before the debate, Oving Parish Council chairman Sjoerd Schuyleman told the council a deferral would be a ‘glimmer of hope’. He said: “Nowhere is there any indication that the views of thousands of people have been taken into consideration by the team working on behalf of the Department of Transport. “This does not appear to be a very democratic process.” He added it was ‘unfortunate’ the application had coincided with the A27 consultation and asked for the application to be deferred indefinitely in line with the Secretary of State’s letter. Planning officers had recommended the application to remove the conditions on the Shopwhyke development to keep the traffic lights be refused. At the meeting, officers explained the proposal had ‘no prospect of succeeding’ without the expensive traffic modelling demanded by Highways England. But councillors argued any plans would be affected by the A27 upgrade, with Cllr Tricia Tull commenting it was like ‘trying to pin the tail on the donkey’. Support for keeping the lights was also heard as Cllr Gordon McAra said it would be ‘a little bit of social justice for the parish’ if the application was not ruled out. The motion to defer the application was passed with 11 councillors in favour, with one against and one abstension. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage at www.chichester.co.uk/ 2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ChichesterObserver 3) Follow us on Twitter @Chiobserver 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! The Chichester Observer - always the first with your local news. Be part of it.