Beautiful views from Apuldram fields will be missed if Chichester Plan builds on it

Anyone who has walked/cycled along Salterns Way or looked out towards Chichester from inside the AONB knows about the beautiful views of the cathedral looking out over the development site from Salterns Way.

We have the only English cathedral that can be seen from the sea (at the moment). They are some of the most important and iconic views enjoyed by local residents and countless tourists. The development of this site will result in those views being lost or impacted, we cannot let this happen.

This site is located adjacent to the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and in close proximity to the RAMSAR and Site of Special Scientific Interest; it serves as an important wildlife corridor around the harbour. This development will have a huge negative impact on protected wildlife and the landscape of the harbour/AONB.

This site is located slap bang on top of the river Lavant and a high-risk flood zone 3 covering approximately 40 per cent of the site as it stands today, in 50 to 100 years it will likely be much more. How can this site be considered as long-term in any possible way.

Having seen other potential sites to the north of the city discounted because they may affect long distance views of the South Downs park I can only assume the council have either never visited this site or walked around it with blindfolds on. Perhaps they can answer the question, why are the views from the north of the city more important than those from the south?

There is no question of the need for more development, however the sites chosen need to be long-term and sustainable, this site does not meet any of those requirements and is simply reckless in the extreme. I call upon the district councillors to remove this site from the plan before we lose some of our most important views forever.

Stephen Holcroft, Stockbridge Gardens, Chichester