A STRONG plea to ‘foster’ the Chichester district’s successful horticultural industry was made at a meeting of the district cabinet.
It followed a report on a government inspector’s decision to back the district council and local residents and throw out an appeal against refusal of planning permission for a massive new glasshouse development at Almodington.
Cabinet member Cllr Myles Cullen said this was a case of ‘win and lose’. Although this proposal was possibly in the wrong place, the district council must foster the horticultural industry.
“There is no doubt that horticulture is one of our strongest industries, and we have to foster it where we can,” he told the meeting.
“We are lucky enough to have people who want to invest because they recognise this is an area that lends itself to horticulture.”
Environment director Steve Carvell said the inspector found problems not only with the location of the glasshouse but with the scale of the proposal coming forward.
The inspector also found that local planning policies for horticultural development were not inconsistent with national planning. The cabinet heard the net cost of the appeal to the council was around £120,000.