Planning application drawings in Chichester

What the data says about planning in Chichester

Chichester District Council granted 95% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 8 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Chichester contains Bosham, Boxgrove, Camelsdale and Hammer conservation areas (Bosham designated 1969), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.

Class A and Class B set the thresholds — a rear dormer to 40m³ on a terrace or 50m³ on a semi or detached, and a single-storey rear extension to 3m on a terrace or 4m on a detached house — beyond which Chichester District Council needs a full application. In conservation areas such as Bosham, Boxgrove and Camelsdale and Hammer those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Chichester is determined against an 8-week statutory target.

Bosham (conservation area designated in 1969), Boxgrove (conservation area designated in 1981), Camelsdale and Hammer (conservation area designated in 1984), Dell Quay (conservation area designated in 1976), Donnington (conservation area designated in 1976), Earnley (conservation area designated in 1976), Fishbourne (conservation area designated in 1981), Graylingwell (designated conservation area), Chichester North (ward of Chichester), Fernhurst (ward of Chichester), Goodwood (ward of Chichester), Harbour Villages (ward of Chichester), Loxwood (ward of Chichester), Southbourne (ward of Chichester), The Witterings (ward of Chichester) and Westbourne (ward of Chichester) — these are the Chichester pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Bosham, Boxgrove, Camelsdale and Hammer, Dell Quay, Donnington, Earnley, Fishbourne and Graylingwell. Chichester District Council weighs each proposal against Chichester District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 27,770 homes here are 12% pre-1900, 11% 1955-1964, 6% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building, over Victorian and earlier houses (12% of 27,770 homes), late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (6%).

Designations, stock and decisions in Chichester

Heritage designation is the single biggest variable in Chichester, and it is address-specific: Bosham (conservation area designated in 1969), Boxgrove (conservation area designated in 1981), Camelsdale and Hammer (conservation area designated in 1984), Dell Quay (conservation area designated in 1976), Donnington (conservation area designated in 1976), Earnley (conservation area designated in 1976), Fishbourne (conservation area designated in 1981) and Graylingwell (designated conservation area). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Chichester District Council assesses materials, window detail and roof form against the area's own appraisal, so a scheme that would be waved through two streets away can need a full application here.

Beyond the designated areas, Chichester takes in Chichester North, Fernhurst, Goodwood, Harbour Villages, Loxwood, Southbourne, The Witterings and Westbourne. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Chichester District Council, but the district's 8 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.

On stock, Chichester is Victorian and earlier houses (12% of 27,770 homes), late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (6%) — which is why steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Chichester District Council decided 470 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 95%, with 93% issued inside the eight-week target. We work from the council's own published record.

The full build-period split for Chichester runs pre-1900 3% (190 homes), 1900-1918 0% (30 homes), 1919-1929 0% (10 homes), 1930-1939 6% (350 homes), 1945-1954 3% (170 homes), 1955-1964 30% (1,850 homes), 1965-1972 33% (1,990 homes), 1973-1982 4% (260 homes), 1983-1992 5% (310 homes), 1993-1999 4% (220 homes) and 2000-2008 3% (170 homes). That distribution is why pre-1900 detailing dominates the drawings here, and it is measured from council-tax records rather than assumed from the street name.

Chichester District Council also decides for Chichester North, Fernhurst, Goodwood, Harbour Villages, Loxwood, Southbourne, The Witterings and Westbourne, so a decision in Chichester sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.

What goes in a Chichester planning application

Whatever you are building, Chichester District Council decides it from the same core set. A location plan at 1:1250 fixes the site on the map with the red-line boundary; a block plan at 1:500 shows the property in its plot; then existing and proposed floor plans and elevations at 1:100 or 1:50 show the house as it is and as it will be. Larger schemes add a section and, where policy requires, a design and access statement. Miss one and the application is returned invalid before an officer has looked at it.

The drawings are also the argument. Chichester District Council assesses each proposal against Chichester District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, and the elevations are where the case is won or lost — ridge and eaves heights, window positions, materials and how the change reads from the street. On Chichester's stock, which runs to Victorian and earlier houses (12% of 27,770 homes), late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (6%), the same scheme is drawn differently to answer the concerns officers raise here. Chichester contains Bosham, Boxgrove, Camelsdale and Hammer conservation areas (Bosham designated 1969), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so the pack is built to pre-empt exactly that.

Where the property sits in a conservation area — Bosham, Boxgrove, Camelsdale and Hammer, Dell Quay, Donnington, Earnley, Fishbourne and Graylingwell among Chichester's — validation is stricter still, often demanding heritage detail and sometimes additional plans. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Chichester District Council, but the district's 8 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets. We confirm the designation before drawing so the pack meets the higher bar first time.