Goring Gap – Planning Application AWDM/0737/26

Planning Statement – The Worthing Local Plan – SS4

Dear Gary,

Further to our meeting, I have continued to review the Worthing Local Plan, particularly Policy SS4 relating to the Local Green Gaps. I appreciate that this policy is likely to form an important part of your assessment of our application, and I would be grateful if you could consider the following observations.

I fully appreciate that every planning application must be determined on its own merits, having regard to the Development Plan and all other material considerations. Equally, however, planning policies should be applied consistently unless there is a clear and evidence-based planning reason to distinguish one case from another.

Having read the Local Plan (pages 58-59 are attached at the end of this statement) alongside the Council’s own information regarding Brooklands Park, I was struck by the similarities in the wider planning objectives.

Link here: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/parks/find/worthing/brooklands-park/

Brooklands Park is identified as one of Worthing’s designated Local Green Gaps. The Council has invested significantly in transforming it into a major recreational destination, introducing a sustainable café, seating areas, event space, accessible pathways, fitness trails, shelters, community gardens, play facilities and extensive biodiversity improvements.

The council are also currently tendering for development in Brooklands Park, a designated Green Gap.

Link here: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/news/pr26-002.html

To me, this demonstrates that the Council does not interpret Policy SS4 as preventing all visitor-serving facilities within a Local Green Gap. Rather, it appears to recognise that carefully designed recreational infrastructure can coexist with the strategic purpose of the designation, provided the openness of the Gap and the separation between settlements are preserved.

That is precisely the principle we have sought to follow at Goring Gap.

Our proposal is intentionally modest, largely seasonal and, in many respects, reversible. It is intended to support recreation, health and wellbeing, tourism, biodiversity and the local economy, whilst preserving the openness of the site and without introducing substantial permanent built development that would undermine the strategic function of the Goring–Ferring Gap.

I am not suggesting that Brooklands Park and Goring Gap are identical. They clearly have different characteristics and contexts. My point is a narrower one: the Council’s own investment and management of Brooklands demonstrates that Policy SS4 is capable of accommodating visitor-serving facilities where they do not compromise the purpose of the designation.

If the Council ultimately concludes that the proposal at Goring Gap should be treated differently, I would respectfully ask that the decision clearly identifies the material planning differences which justify that conclusion. It would be helpful to understand why visitor facilities considered appropriate within one designated Local Green Gap would be fundamentally unacceptable within another, particularly where both seek to encourage outdoor recreation, community wellbeing and environmental enhancement.

Having now read the Worthing Local Plan in considerable detail, I am increasingly of the view that the proposal aligns with many of its wider objectives. In particular, it supports policies relating to the visitor economy, sustainable communities, public health, biodiversity enhancement and encouraging people to enjoy the Borough’s exceptional coastal environment.

My hope is that the application will therefore be assessed against the Local Plan as a whole, rather than by reference to a single policy in isolation. The Local Plan contains many objectives that support well-managed recreational uses, and I believe our proposal is capable of satisfying those objectives while still respecting the strategic purpose of Policy SS4.

As always, I remain willing to discuss any aspect of the application, provide further information if it would assist your assessment, or accept reasonable planning conditions where appropriate. My objective has always been to work constructively with the Council and the community to achieve a solution that enhances Goring Gap for the benefit of residents and visitors alike.

Thank you once again for the time you have already devoted to this application and for the constructive discussions we have had.

Kind regards,

Chris Dixon