Category Archives: Environment

Where has Chichester’s Civic Pride gone?

Environment, Pavements, Trees, Walkways

If you get off a bus outside Chichester Cathedral, what do you see?
Dilapidated flower beds with a sign proudly displaying the fact that they belong to Chichester City Council.  There’s also another weed-strewn flower bed nearby beside Phillip Jackson’s statue of St Richard.  Why isn’t this flower bed maintained by the Cathedral’s works team?

Uncared-for trees on West Street
Uncared-for trees on West Street leave littel room for buggies and pushchairs. Photo Brian Henhan

Let us return to our hapless bus passengers, residents or visitors to Chichester leaving their bus, who will have to squeeze (this is late July), beneath and between untrimmed over-hanging lime trees, negotiate rubbish on the ground.  Across the road is another eye-sore, the once proud Army and Navy store (and later House of Fraser) now seemingly abandoned for the past four years waiting for its Guernsey-based owners to decide its future.  If our bus passengers get as far as the Cross, they are just as likely to fall over one of the trip hazards on our pavements.  When is our highway authority, West Sussex County Council (WSCC), going to do something about the parlous state of the paving?

We live in hope!  Chichester District Council (CDC) has commissioned a Regeneration Strategy for Chichester, agreed at Full Council in mid-July – but this city is in dire need of action now!  Could our City Council better maintain not only their flower beds but also pay for sweepers to keep pavements in front of the Cathedral clean?  Cannot the interminable
discussions about paving in the city centre – and who pays for what – be concluded at long last by WSCC?  And we must ask CDC to publish their Regeneration Strategy and deliver it as soon as possible.  In the meantime, our ‘Councils’ should do their bit to improve the dilapidated state of our city centre now and not later.  If they can’t do it perhaps we the
residents should form a work party to tidy the place up!

Peter Evans, Chairman

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An opportunity to create a wildflower oasis in Chichester

Environment, Local Plan, ,
John Templeton explains the background and how this proposal could become a reality.
The first phase of the Whitehouse Farm housing development (or Minerva Heights as it’s now called) comprises 750 homes and is well under way. An outline planning application for a second phase with a further 850 homes was submitted in July 2022. This includes what the developers call a Northern Country Park on two fields opposite Whitehouse Farm, and immediately south of Brandy Hole Copse Local Nature Reserve (see map). It’s proposed these fields would not be developed for housing but remain as Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace, or SANGS in planning jargon. This approach compensates for the loss of greenspace on the remainder of Whitehouse Farm.
The Chichester Society has made a formal objection to creating a Northern Country Park, because this proposal is misplaced. Country Parks was introduced in the Countryside Act 1968 for the development of ‘honeypot’ recreational facilities on the outskirts of London and other major urban areas. The intention was to discourage people from driving into the surrounding countryside. A good example is Queen Elizabeth Country Park between Horndean and Petersfield which provides a large car park, café, gift shop, tourist information and toilets as well as cycleways and guided walks through the forest and to Butser Hill.
Local Nature Reserve 
Brandy Hole Copse (formerly named East Broyle Copse) is a 15 acre area of woodland, on the southern side of Brandy Hole Lane. Part belongs to Chichester District Council and the rest to two landowners. The public are allowed to visit the Copse on foot from several access points on Brandy Hole Lane and Centurion Way cycle-footpath. Years ago, most of the Copse was impenetrable but a hurricane-force storm in 1987 brought down many trees. A public meeting in 1989 called by the District Council and Sussex
Existing-View-south
Existing-View-south
Wildlife Trust led to the formation of the Brandy Hole Copse Conservation Group, now the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse, to care for it. After years of work including enlarging two ponds and creating footpaths, the Copse was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 2001.
Up to the present time, Brandy Hole Copse (BHC) is the only designated Local Nature Reserve in Chichester District. It’s managed by the Council through the BHC
Management Board. Members include council officers, District and City councillors and residents of local bodies including the Chichester Society. A long-held wish of the Friends is that the two fields immediately south of the Copse should be planted as wildflower meadows and included within an enlarged Local Nature Reserve. These fields and the Copse were also cherished by the late naturalist Richard Williamson as being of major importance for nature conservation. As a tribute to Richard, we reproduced an evocative article he wrote for the Chichester Observer in May 2013 and published it in the September 2022 Newsletter. He asked whether Cicestrians cared about this green space? We and the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse certainly do!
Wildflower-meadow-in-NW-Chichester
Wildflower-meadow-in-NW-Chichester
At the time of writing, the two fields are still part of Whitehouse Farm and the larger field is still farmed.
The owners have for many years allowed people to walk along the borders of both fields and this has been widely enjoyed by those visiting Brandy Hole Copse and Centurion Way. The developers’ proposals give no details of how the country park would be created but show paths and cycleways wandering across the fields with clumps of trees and play-on-the-way facilities.
Expanding the nature reserve 
We think these two fields should be brought under the management of Brandy Hole Copse Local Nature Reserve and given priority to nature as is the case with the Copse itself. The paths around the borders of the fields should be well surfaced for use by buggies and wheelchairs for access into the Copse and Centurion Way. A cycleway could also be provided from Old Broyle Road (B2178) to Centurion Way. The newly planted meadows would be protected as nature is allowed to take over.
The District Council’s updated Local Plan designates Centurion Way as one of a series of wildlife corridors connecting Chichester Harbour with the South Downs. The Copse sits astride this corridor with the new wildlife meadows adjacent to it acting as stepping- stones for nature as climate change gains momentum.
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Chichester status as Gateway to The Downs under threat

Environment, National Parks

John Templeton thinks we should all be worried

Most towns outside the South Downs National Park boundary proudly claim that they are a ‘gateway to the National Park.’ Indeed, the National Park Authority consider Chichester to be the major gateway to the National Park from the coastal plain.
This is because, first, Centurion Way will soon be extended from West Dean to Cocking Hill to meet the South Downs Way from Winchester to Eastbourne;  and second, because Chichester’s bus and rail stations allow visitors to easily transfer from train to bus and continue on one of the three bus services to Petersfield, Midhurst or Petworth.

Proposals to improve access to the South Downs Way from both Winchester and Eastbourne are under discussion.  But Chichester’s access to the Downs may be worsened if Centurion Way is diverted to allow for the Whitehouse Farm phase 2 development and by proposals to close the bus station.

Residents and the District Council need to be aware of these threats.

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Support update for businesses at this time of Covid 19

Environment, Publications,
Local Accountants Watling and Hirst have produced a guide to the support available to business as of 3 April.

To obtain further updates contact tony@watlingandhirst.com

It covers the following points

  • Grants for employers to cover salaries
  • Grants for the Self employed
  • Deferral of Income Tax
  • Deferral of VAT
  • Sick pay support for employers
  • More time to pay taxes
  • Business Rates holiday
  • Grants based on rateable values
  • Loans for businesses
  • Protection for tenants
  • Cancelling your VAT registration
  • Claiming Universal Credit
  • Business rates and grants: Regional variations

It can be downloaded here

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Sussex Local Nature Partnership’s Natural Capital Investment Strategy is endorsed by the WSCC

Environment, Land, Planning, Trees, Water

The Society has an interest in preservation, protection and improvement in the City of Chichester and its environs and to this extent the natural environment is is an area of concern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The term ‘natural capital’ describes the parts of the natural environment -‘stocks’ of waters, land, air, species, minerals and oceans – that produce value to people. The capital generates ‘goods’ such as clean air and water, food, energy, wildlife, recreation and protection from hazards.

Locally, in this context, the Sussex Local Nature Partnership (NLP) was established “to work across sectors and organisations to secure the healthiest ecological system possible thereby protecting and enhancing the natural environment and all that it gives us”. Its Memorandum of Understanding of February 2014 brings together a wide range of interested parties from farming, local and national government, agencies, businesses, NGOs and research organisations represented on an Executive Committee “formed in such a way as to encourage conversations and interactions to promote the emergence of ideas, thoughts and interactions which will then lead to actions”.

The major output from the NLP has been the Natural Capital Investment Strategy for Sussex 2019-2024 adopted on October 2019 and published in December that year. This Strategy was endorsed by the County Council on 19th February who see it as providing “an important part of the evidence base for the development of the Local Industrial Strategy, the emerging West Sussex Climate Change and Environment Strategy and the East Sussex equivalent”. The strategy comes into effect at the end a call-in period which ends 28 February unless the call-in procedure is activated.

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Declaring a Climate Emergency – what’s this all about?

Environment, Planning

What does it mean?

Oxford Dictionaries declared “climate emergency” the word of the year for 2019, following a hundred-fold increase in usage that it says demonstrated a “greater immediacy” in the way we talk about the climate. It defined the term as ‘a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it’. However, the term ‘climate emergency’ has been around for some time, certainly before 2009.

What declarations have been made?

The first declaration of a climate emergency would seem to have been made by Darebin in December 2016, a council located in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne following sustained protests by various groups. It passed the motion that ‘Council recognises that we are in a state of climate emergency that requires urgent action by all levels of government, including by local councils’, and it agreed to establish an Energy and Environment Working Group to further develop Council proposals for a Darebin Energy Foundation and a Darebin Nature Trust.

At a UK government level the Scottish Parliament declared a climate emergency on 28 April 2019, making Scotland arguably the first country to do so. This was quickly followed by the National Assembly for Wales on the 29 April and then the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the UK as whole in 1 May.

The UK Government’s current target is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% (compared to 1990 levels) by 2050. This target was recommended by the Committee on Climate Change, the UK’s independent climate advisory body.

It has been documented by CACE (Council Action in the Climate Emergency) that as of November 2019 over 1200 local councils across 25 countries have declared a Climate Emergency.

What actions are being taken?

Declaring a climate emergency is not be an end in itself – plans and resources to address the emergency must follow. Actions need be taken at various levels by Individuals, community groups, businesses, local government, national government and international bodies.

Here at our local level the Chichester District Council approved in January 2020  a Climate Emergency Initial Action Plan which includes minimising emissions from new housing,  reduction in food waste, increased tree planting,  enhancing cycle and walking paths, increased electric vehicle charging points and promoting life style changes.

At the UK national level on 27 June 2019 the UK government amended the Climate Change Act and set a legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. According to the Committee on Climate Change (the CCC) UK emissions were 44% below 1990 levels in 2018. The first (2008-12) and the second carbon budget (2013-17) have been met and the UK is on track to meet the third (2018-22) carbon budget, but is not on track to meet the fourth, which covers the period 2023-27.

UPDATES FROM THE UK GOVERNMENT

The UK Governement introduced its enhanced Enviroment Bill on 30 January 2020.It includes new powers to stop the exports of polluting plastic waste to developing countries, which could prevent harmful waste from being shipped out of sight whilst boosting the UK’s domestic recycling system.

On 4 February 2020 the government published the final estimates of UK territorial greenhouse gas emissions going back to 1990. A summary of the statistics can be found here.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY SOURCES

A vast and increasing number of organisations and pressure groups have arisen concerned with various aspects of climate change and how it might be addressed – examples of those found are noted below.

We welcome additions to this list and your contributions to the climate emergency debate via your comments below.

350.Group
https://350.org/about/
An international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.

Campaign against Climate Change
https://www.campaigncc.org/
The UK-based Campaign against Climate Change (CCC) exists to push for the urgent and radical action we need to prevent the catastrophic destabilisation of global climate. It provides a range of resources for councillors and campaigners

Centre for alternative technology
https://www.cat.org.uk/info-resources/zero-carbon-britain/
The Centre for alternative technology (CAT) is an educational charity located in Wales dedicated to researching and communicating positive solutions for environmental change.

Client Earth
https://www.clientearth.org/
ClientEarth is a charity that uses the power of the law to protect the planet and the people who live on it. They have lawyers and environmental experts across the world who are fighting against climate change and to protect nature and the environment.

Climate Coalition
https://www.theclimatecoalition.org/
UK-based body dedicated to action against climate change representing over 130 organisations across the UK, including the Women’s Institute, the National Trust, and the RSPB. The Climate Coalition is the operating name of the Climate Movement a registered charity.

Climate Emergency Declaration and Mobilisation In Action
https://www.cedamia.org/about/
Australian-based Climate Emergency Declaration and Mobilisation In Action (CEDAMIA) campaigns for a Climate Emergency Declaration at all levels of government. They also campaign for state/territory governments to ban new climate-damaging projects via the No More Bad Investments (NMBI) campaigns, and for local councils to implement Climate Emergency plans.

Climate Emergency Declaration
https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/
This site is hosted in Australia by a network of climate emergency action advocates. Its goal is for governments to declare a climate emergency and mobilise society-wide resources at sufficient scale and speed to protect civilisation, the economy, people, species, and ecosystems.

Climate Emergency UK
https://www.climateemergency.uk/
Climate Emergency UK monitors the ‘Climate & Environmental Emergency’ development in the United Kingdom at both local authority and national government level.

Climate Group
https://www.theclimategroup.org/about
An international non-profit, founded in 2004, with offices in London, New Delhi and New York to accelerate climate action by bringing together powerful networks of businesses and governments, to shift global markets and policies, towards this goal.

Committee on Climate Change
https://www.theccc.org.uk/about/
The Committee on Climate Change (the CCC) is an independent, statutory body established under the Climate Change Act 2008. Its purpose is to advise the UK Government and Devolved Administrations on emissions targets and report to Parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change.

Council Action in the Climate Emergency
https://www.caceonline.org/blog/dont-use-climate-emergency-in-vain-target-setting-in-the-climate-emergency
CACE (Council Action in the Climate Emergency) based in Australia was created to encourage and support councils adopting a Climate Emergency response. CACE is an initiative of Adrian Whitehead and Bryony Edwards in 2017 in response to their successful campaigning with Darebin Council.

Environmental Defense Fund
https://www.edf.org/our-work
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a US based organisation focussing on climate, oceans, ecosystems and health.

Extinction Rebellion
https://rebellion.earth/
An international movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction and minimise the risk of social collapse. Numerous Extinction Rebellion groups actively campaign for the declaration of a climate emergency. There is a local Chichester branch Extinction Rebellion Chichester https://xrchi.uk/

Friends of the Earth
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-change/what-can-I-do-to-stop-climate-change
Part of an international community dedicated to protecting the natural world and the wellbeing of everyone in it. Leads campaigns, provides resources and information, and aims to drive real solutions to the environmental problems.

Global justice now
https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/campaigns/climate-and-energy
Promotes the idea of Energy democracy  – creating an energy system which is democratic, shifts quickly to renewables and keeps electricity affordable for all.

Go Fossil Free
https://gofossilfree.org/
In the UK, it is mainly focused on divestment campaigning — asking public institutions to cut their political, social and financial ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy.

Greenpeace
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/climate-change/
A Campaigning organisation focussing on changing the way we live.

International Energy Agency
https://www.iea.org/about/mission
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative analysis, data, policy recommendations, and real-world solutions to help countries provide secure and sustainable energy for all.

Natural Resources Defense Council
https://www.nrdc.org/issues/climate-change
a US-based organisation that tackles the climate crisis at its source: pollution from fossil fuels. They work to reduce dependence on these dirty sources by expanding clean energy across cities, states, and nations and for example, winning court cases that allow the federal government to limit carbon pollution from cars and power plants.

Nature Conservancy
https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle-climate-change/
Focuses on innovative, science-based solutions that match the urgency of this crisis, such as promoting clean energy and restoring forests from Brazil to Indonesia and working to ensure a clean energy future.

Sandbag
https://sandbag.org.uk/
A non-profit climate change think tank based in London and Brussels. Uses data analysis to build evidence-based climate policy. The London branch focuses on accelerating the global coal phase-out, whilst the Brussels branch covers EU industrial policy and the EU ETS.

Statistical Review of World Energy
https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html
The Statistical Review of World Energy provides energy data for the past 68 years. In addition to the raw data, the Statistical Review also provides a record of key energy developments and events through time.

Town and County Planning Association (TCPA)
https://www.tcpa.org.uk/
Campaigns for the reform of the UK’s planning system to make it more responsive to people’s needs and aspirations and to promote sustainable development. Has produced a  guide to planning for climate change  aimed at local authorities

Transition Chichester
http://www.transitionchichester.org/about/
A group keen to promote and embrace change which helps create a sustainable local environment and a more resilient community.

Tyndall Centre
https://www.tyndall.ac.uk/about
The Tyndall Centre is a partnership of universities bringing together researchers from the social and natural sciences and engineering to develop sustainable responses to climate change.

UK Government
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/climate-change-explained
Explanations and guidance from the UK Government.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
https://unfccc.int/about-us/about-the-secretariat
Focussing in its early years largely on facilitating the intergovernmental climate change negotiations, the secretariat today supports a complex architecture of bodies that serve to advance the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.

World Wildlife Fund
https://www.wwf.org.uk/what-we-do/area-of-work/climate-change-and-energy
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is an international campaigning organisation to drive changes in policy and legislation. In the UK it is working to ensure that the UK government is held to account on reducing its carbon emissions. Its focus is on 3 main areas: power, transport and buildings (accounting for 90% of UK emissions).

 

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Living with beauty – report of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission

Environment, Land, Planning, Structure

The Commission was established as an independent body to advise the UK Government on how to promote and increase the use of high-quality design for new build homes and neighbourhoods. It released its first report ‘Living with Beauty’ on 30 January 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They stress that beauty must become the natural result of working within our planning system. To achieve this result, they have three aims for the system as a whole –

  • Ask for Beauty
  • Refuse Ugliness
  • Promote Stewardship

They state these aims must be embedded in the planning system and in the culture of development, in such a way as to incentivise beauty and deter ugliness at every point where the choice arises. To do this they make policy proposals in the following areas:

  1. Planning: create a predictable level playing field
  2. Communities: bring the democracy forward
  3. Stewardship: incentivise responsibility to the future
  4. Regeneration: end the scandal of left behind place
  5. Neighbourhoods: create places not just houses
  6. Nature: re-green our towns and cities
  7. Education: promote a wider understanding of placemaking
  8. Management: value planning, count happiness, procure properly

If you have a view on this please you are welcome to add your comments below.

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Al fresco dining – at a cost under review

Environment, Highways, Pavements, Planning

The Chichester Vision, outlined in the District Council’s publication ‘Chichester Tomorrow‘ envisages open spaces, places to rest and pedestrianised areas with space for eating out, art and performance, and other leisure activities.  Those visiting our City often welcome areas to sit outside – whether for a coffee, more formal al fresco dining or because they can’t smoke inside the adjoining establishment.

However, to provide some of these facilities comes at a cost  as it is a legal requirement of West Sussex County Council for businesses to have a licence for tables and chairs positioned on the highway, including pavements – and they have  to adhere to various terms and conditions. The Council has apparently recorded a significant rise in complaints due to the increase in tables and needs to assess each location for its suitability.

As of January 2020 the annual fee for placing tables and chairs on the highway is £520. However, the price is subject to change each financial year and the Council has initiated a consultation which closes on 24 February with a decision due March 2020.

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