I’ve been meeting with the Birdham community recently to discuss a controversial planning application by the edge of the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Just off the Main Road (the A286) on some nearby agricultural land, the application proposes to build 150 houses. It isn’t a site that has been deemed suitable for housing in any part of Chichester’s proposed Local Plan, the long-term planning document, setting out where we should build over the coming years, and it has understandably prompted some real concern from many residents.

Councils have an obligation by law to put in place an up-to-date Local Plan, one that can give an area certainty for the future and fend off speculative applications like those we’ve seen come forward in recent times. Unfortunately, and despite being so close to the finish line, Chichester District Council have not yet submitted our Local Plan to the Planning Inspector - a situation I’m urging them to help resolve.

Last Tuesday, I met with the Birdham Village Residents’ Association at the site to discuss how we can move forward. I’ve made it clear to the District Council that we need to see urgent progress made on moving the plan forward, and that there can be no more excuses or delays. I will of course keep working with the Birdham community to press this.

Planning was also at the heart of another of my visits last Tuesday, with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) around Pagham Harbour. We have an amazing variety of birdlife on our doorstep and organisations like the RSPB work year-round to ensure that Chichester remains a hotspot for birdlife from around the world. That means beach clean-ups, wildlife education programmes, and also means getting involved in ways we can build nature into everything we do.

One fantastic example we discussed was swift bricks: almost identical to regular bricks, these hollowed blocks slot into the wall and offer a place for visiting swift birds to nest. It means that in areas with large nesting populations, like so much of our Manhood Peninsula, flocks can be incorporated into our communities. It’s only a small example, but it can make a big difference, and it’s emblematic of just how important it is that we put local voices at the heart of the planning conversation.