Planners have approved more homes at the 600-home development New Monks Park – but there was some confusion over whether the sewer system would cope.
The New Monks Park development received full permission for 249 homes and outline permission for a further 351 at Shadwells Road in 2020.
Now developer Cala Homes Limited has permission for 34 more homes, bringing the total to 634.
Phase one is already being delivered and Cala said the increased number of two and three-beds – and fewer four and five bedroom homes – planned for phase two was a ‘response to local demand’.
Adur District Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the extra homes at a meeting on Wednesday (November 30) following two hours of discussion.
One issue that cropped up repeatedly was the ability of the sewer network to cope with extra demand, and committee members and the developer were left baffled by Southern Water’s recent response to the extra homes.
A letter from the water company in November said no connection should be made to the new development until ‘offsite reinforcements’ were carried out – something Southern Water said could take up to two years.
Councillor Julian Shinn (Green, St Nicolas) said:
“I’m struggling to really understand what’s going on with this development and Southern Water. Are they saying there isn’t sufficient capacity? Are they saying that the development should wait? At the moment, sewage and sewage discharge is a really important issue for many of our residents, when sewage has been discharged into local seas and rivers.”
A drainage consultant for Cala said the developer had agreed the required sewer capacity with Southern Water before the initial 600 homes were approved – and said it would not be exceeded by 34 extra homes.
Council planning officers pointed out developers could not be expected to ‘solve existing infrastructure problems’.
Other concerns included management fees for future residents but Jessica Sparkes, of Cala, said the developer was ‘very transparent’ about fees at the point of sale so there were ‘no nasty surprises’.
Peter Rainier, on behalf of Cala, said the proposals are an ‘improvement’ with more affordable homes, adding that it is critical to make use of all available brownfield land to avoid housebuilding in the countryside.
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