Last week I was down at Chichester Town Hall arguing in front of the hearing that Chichester Council’s Local Plan should be modified. Although we do need homes for genuinely local people, in its current form the plan is damaging and does not do this.
My particular focus was the communities in Wisborough Green, Kirdford, Plaistow, Ifold, and Loxwood. None have the transport, sewage infrastructure, school places or GP capacity to remotely absorb the hundreds of additional homes on precious green field sites which the Chichester plan seeks to impose.
I also pointed out the devastating environmental impact, noting that the proposed sites adjoin the South Downs National Park and contain important habitats for rare species such as Great Crested Newts, Barbastelle bats, dormice, and rare dragonflies. There is no point councils talking up their ‘green’ credentials if their actions are then quite the opposite.
Wrong to surrender sovereignty:
With our county being home to around 3,500 Chagossians, I am appalled by last week’s government surrender of the sovereign British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius.
West Sussex is home to probably the world’s largest concentration of Chagossian citizens and this decision blatantly disregards their wishes. They do not see themselves as part of Mauritius – which is as far away as London is from Kyiv - and most would prefer either continued British rule or being an independent state.
The British Indian Ocean Territory is a highly strategic location for national security with its UK and US Airbases and satellite ground stations able to ‘see’ parts of space which cannot be seen from the northern hemisphere. Labour are relinquishing sovereignty, shrinking our sphere of influence whilst China seeks to do the opposite, taking every opportunity to leverage their foothold to advance their interests on the world stage.
