The Parish Council has set up this designated web page to keep the community informed regarding the redevelopment proposals and planning applications in relation to the Crouchlands Farm site. 

On 26th November 2019, the Parish Council facilitated a public meeting at which Artemis Land and Agriculture Ltd presented their plans for the Crouchlands Farm site.

A recording of this meeting, along with the presentation banners displayed around the Winterton Hall, are available on the Parish Council's website here.

Artemis Land and Agriculture Ltd have submitted the below documents to Chichester District Council (CDC) as part of the Local Plan Review (LPR): -

Whole Farm Plan

On 5th July 2022, the Parish Council received the following letter from Artemis Land and Agriculture Ltd: -

The 'Whole Farm Plan' was considered by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) (CDC) in 2021 for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening Opinion. The LPA concluded: -

"This assessment has considered the nature, scale and location of the proposal and the particular environmental conditions of the site and surroundings. Overall, it is considered that the proposal does constitute EIA development and will require the submission of an Environmental Statement (ES) with any planning application. The critical issues expected to be addressed in an ES would be:

- the impact of the development on biodiversity and protected species and designated sites

- the impact on integrity on the Arun Valley SPA, SAC and Ramsar resulting from water extraction

-the impact with regard to pollution, the risk of major accidents and the risks to human health

- the impact from traffic generation, noise and air quality

- the impact from lighting"

The full details of this application can be found on CDC's website

21/00545/EIA|Screening opinion - commercial and high welfare, low impact and low intensity farming activity, the gradual development of a rural enterprise centre, a rural food and retail centre, equestrian centre, and glamping site.|Crouchlands Farm Rickmans Lane Plaistow Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 0LE

The LPA has validated the submitted 'Whole Farm Plan' planning application. The planning application has now been published and is available for public scrutiny and comment via CDC's website.

22/01735/FULEIA|Regeneration of Crouchlands Farm, comprising demolition of selected buildings, extension, refurbishment and remodelling of selected buildings and the erection of new buildings to provide up to a total of 17,169 sq m (including retained / refurbished existing buildings) comprising the existing farm hub (sui generis), a rural enterprise centre (Use Classes E, C1 and F1), a rural food and retail centre (Use Class E and F1), an equestrian centre (Use Class F2 and C1) and a glamping site (Use Class E and sui generis); provision of new hardstanding, pedestrian, cycle and vehicular access, circulation and parking, landscaping including new tree planting, maintenance and improvements to the Public Rights of Way, site infrastructure and ground remodelling.|Crouchlands Farm Rickmans Lane Plaistow Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 0LE

The Planning Officer who is considering this application has advised the Parish Council as follows: -

• The current consultation date is 16 August 2022
• Various parties have requested extensions to this time, which given the amount of information, and the time of year, is reasonable
• Obviously the sooner that the comments come in the sooner that the applicant has an opportunity to respond to them
• You should be aware that the 16 week target for the determination period is 02/11/22
• It is possible that, once the consultation responses from consultees are received, that additional information will be requested from the applicant. If that is the case then I would formally reconsult.
• The applicant has now submitted the Non Technical Summary for the EIA which I have now uploaded onto the CDC online planning file. I will need to re-consult on the basis of this additional document, however as I previously indicated, I anticipate that I will be requesting additional info from the applicant and don’t want to continually bombard consultees/stakeholders with re-consultation requests. So this is by way of being an informal indication of additional information rather than a formal re-consultation at present.

The Parish Council is a Statutory Consultee within the planning process i.e., an organisation, defined by statute, which the LPA is legally required to consult before reaching a decision on relevant planning applications. The Parish Council will formally consider this planning application at a public planning meeting on Tuesday 27th September 2022. 

On 28th April 2021, the Parish Council resolved to instruct planning and transport experts to assist the Council in ensuring that the plans for the site are in keeping with the area and bring about positive change (C/21/075).

The Parish Council has experience instructing and working with SW Transport Planning Ltd and Temple Group. On 13^th July 2022, the Council resolved to appoint a Planning Working Group to support the Planning Committee and full Council in relation to large-scale and complex planning applications. The Planning Working Group was officially constituted at a public meeting of the Planning and Open Spaces Committee on 3rd August 2022. On 31st August 2022, the Planning and Open Spaces Committee resolved to instruct planning consultant Troy Hayes of Troy Planning and Design.

The following Letters of Instruction have been sent to SW Transport Planning Ltd, Temple Group and Troy Planning and Design: -

Rickman's Green Village

The following letter was received by the Parish Council regarding the proposals for a 'Rickman's Green Village' at the Crouchlands Farm site: -

In the interest of transparency, public accountability and fairness, the Parish Council declined Artemis Land and Agriculture Ltd's invitation for a meeting.

The minutes of the Parish Council's meeting at which DLBP Ltd, on behalf of Artemis Land and Agriculture Ltd, presented the proposals for the Rickman's Green Village can be found on the Parish Council's website here.

Local residents received this letter: -

A public consultation drop-in exhibition regarding these proposals was held on 12th July 2022, between 2pm - 7pm at Crouchlands Farm, Rickman's Lane.

The following application was submitted for an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion:

22/01754/EIA|Request for an EIA Scoping Opinion in relation to proposed Rickman's Green village development.|Crouchlands Farm Rickmans Lane Plaistow Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 0LE

The Parish Council considered this application at its Planning Meeting on 20th July 2022. Please see the agenda, meeting minutes and letter in response to the application here.

A further public consultation regarding Rickman's Green Village took place on Tuesday 4 October 2022, between 3:30pm and 6:30pm at Crouchlands Farm, Rickman’s Lane, West Sussex RH14 0LE.

The Parish Council received the following letter from DLBP on Thursday 22nd September 2022

In December 2022, the Local Planning Authority - Chichester District Council - received two (2) planning applications for the proposed Rickman's Green Village:-

22/03114/FULEIA| Erection of 108 dwellings (Use Class C3), and associated access and street network, footpaths, open spaces, plant, landscaping and site infrastructure.| Crouchlands Farm Rickmans Lane Plaistow Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 0LE

and

22/03131/OUTEIA|Outline planning application (with all matters reserved except access) for the erection of up to 492 dwellings (Use Class C3), education provision including primary school (Use Class F1) and associated access, footpaths, open spaces, landscaping and site infrastructure.|Crouchlands Farm Rickmans Lane Plaistow Billingshurst West Sussex RH14 0LE

On 17th May 2023, the Parish Council considered both applications and resolved to strongly object to both proposals. The minutes of the meeting can be found here.

On 14th June 2023, the Parish Council noted the representations submitted to the Local Planning Authority on 5th and 6th June 2023.

All three ap[plications dismissed at appeal. See the Inspectorate decision below.