2026 JUNE 29 (Monday)
7pm at the Assembly Room, The Council House, North Street, Chichester PO19 1LQ
Information sharing event, speakers from local government and elsewhere will explain how Chichester’s planning system works and decisions are made.
Do come and contribute.  All welcome
Tickets:  no charge, but please reserve your seat via Eventbrite (link tbc)

We are currently looking for volunteers to help on our Executive Committee, in the roles of General Secretary and Membership Secretary:

General Secretary

Principal activities, to arrange:

• Executive Committee meetings every month except August.  Discussions are held with the Chair to plan an Agenda.
  Meeting minutes are written by another ChiSoc EC member
• the Annual General Meeting in October.  This includes liaison with the City Council to book the Assembly Room; and invite the Mayor to chair the AGM as a guest.

Administrative activities:

• Membership leaflets are updated as required
• Committee members contacts list is updated and distributed as needed.
• A similar list of senior staff at the District Council, especially the Planning Department, is also kept.

This description depends on the interest of the post-holder.  Essential duties are working closely with the Chair to look after the Executive Committee and plan the AGM

Membership Secretary

The role of Membership Secretary involves managing the Membership list, dealing with new applications and noting changes to contact details etc.
It is an important role as maintaining our membership of over 500 households adds weight to our influence in the City.

Both roles represent an opportunity to engage with members and the work of the Society, as well as keeping abreast of important issues in our City. 

Expertise required for both roles:

• Access to a Computer and printer/scanner
• Familiar with Email handling and Microsoft Office – Word & Excel
• Be or become a member of the Chichester Society!

The role of the Society is to preserve and enhance Chichester, and by participating like this, you’ll be adding to over 50 years involvement with Chichester’s civic life!
(our anniversary was in 2024).

Anyone beinterested is invited to initially contact our Chair, Sir Mark Featherstone-Witty, ideally by e-mail : chair@chichestersociety.org.uk or 01243 779710.

Over the coming months, this is going to be a document that Chi Soc will get behind, with our focus on planning – https://www.chichester.gov.uk/regeneration-strategy

Come to a discussion on the evening of Monday 17 June at the Assembly Room

All are warmly invited to this free public event which is open to everyone as part of the Festival of Chichester.  Entry is strictly by a free ticket obtained from the Festival website or the Novium box office in Tower Street, since seating is limited.

The theme for the evening is Your Ideas for Our City, discussed by a panel chaired by Phil Hewitt, well-known arts editor at the Chichester Observer.
Panellists are
– Richard Plowman, former councillor and mayor of Chichester
(replaces Adrian Moss, Leader of Chichester District Council, unable to attend in pre-election “purdah”)
– Simon Holland, Chichester Cathedral Interim Dean
– Mark Elliott Festival of Chichester coordinator
– Dr Mark Mason, Chichester University Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience).

Discussion will cover many topics, some of which are mentioned on pages 18 and 19 of the newsletter’s March edition.

Come and have your say.  Ideas from the panel and audience comments will be recorded.
The discussion will be followed by a drinks reception with snacks.

Chichester Society members may wish to make themselves known on arrival at the Assembly Room, so we can give you a special welcome and ask you to write comments or complaints about the city or indeed about your society!  All remarks will be treated confidentially.

It’s on Monday 17 June from 7 to 9pm in the Assembly Room at the Council House on North Street. Bring your friends!

Do also consider some of the other events during the Festival of Chichester 15 June to 21 July

John Halliday and John Templeton, members of the Executive Committee

We are celebrating the birth of the Chichester Society in the autumn of 1973.  It was born as protest against changes that were viewed as wrecking this city’s character.  We honour David Goodman whose inspirational address was greeted by acclamation and a wish to preserve rather than destroy, illustrated by Somerstown’s demolition during the previous decade – whose demise we record in our December newsletter*.

The Chichester Society wants the best for this city: housing that is affordable, good public transport, a vibrant city centre; somewhere that is clean, tidy and respectful of our heritage, admired by residents and visitors alike.  We welcome initiative and growth, especially when allied to youthful endeavour, which is why we’re pleased to publish a good-news article* on the University of Chichester’s success.

Our problems are not unique because the clash between urban growth and conservation is experienced across the country. But Chichester, squeezed between the Downs and Harbour, is experiencing wholly inappropriate development.  This country invented the planning system as protection fromurban sprawl but the setting of our city is being rapidly destroyed. In recent years we have lost farmland separating the town from nearby villages such as Westhampnett, leaving only a gap, the Daffodil Field, between Summersdale and Lavant remaining.  We have built hundreds of new dwellings encircling our city.  We endure traffic levels that are unacceptable.  If our Local Plan can be approved we can at least reduce new housing numbers to some extent.

We are fortunate to live in a town of charm and character.  But the development threats whilst no new Local Plan is in place are being repeated on a damaging scale today as a result of Planning Appeals.
The case is clear – let’s argue for the best that good planning and architecture can provide.

*the December newsletter has been delivered to members, and will be available on this site in the spring.  In the meantime do look at the 25th anniversary newsletter that describes the momentous events that provoked the start of the Chichester Society.

On Friday 24 November members met at 11am in Jubilee Park South near the New Park Centre to plant a tree to  commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chichester Society, close to the tree planted in 2013 to mark the society’s 40th anniversary.