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CPRE Sussex says no to Ford incinerator

4th August 2020

CPRE Sussex has objected to a proposed energy recovery facility at Ford Circular Technology Park. You can object to West Sussex County Council by 9 August 2020.

The proposal involves demolition of existing buildings and structures and construction and operation of an energy recovery facility and a waste sorting and transfer facility for treatment of municipal, commercial and industrial wastes, including ancillary buildings, structures, parking, hardstanding and landscape works.

The application site on Ford Road is next to a site allocated for mixed use, including 1,500 homes, in the adopted Arun Local Plan and Ford Neighbourhood Plan.  CPRE Sussex arranged a ‘Making Places’ community workshop in June 2018 to help Ford Parish Council to consider this allocation and to inform the design principles.

CPRE Sussex supports Ford Parish Council’s wish to create a ‘heart’ to their village and provide local affordable housing via their Community Land Trust. We hope that Ford village can become an outstanding example of how communities can work together to influence the creation of new places that enhance their surroundings and provide high quality living for future generations.

This new community is now at risk from the effects of a proposed energy recovery facility which is substantially larger in scale than the one previously permitted on this site.  The impacts are set out in detail in the letter by Ford Parish Council, which CPRE Sussex fully supports. See Ford Parish Council illustration of proposed development below:

In summary the proposed facility should be refused planning permission for the following reasons:

  • Its excessive size and design would be highly damaging to the immediate landscape and views from the South Downs National Park contrary to landscape and design policies in the Ford Neighbourhood Plan, Arun Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework 170 and 172;
  • It is contrary to national policy and guidance that the planning system should support the transition to a low carbon future in a changing climate. National Planning Practice Guidance describes the need to address climate change as ‘one of the core land use planning principles’ that should ‘underpin both plan-making and decision-taking’;
  • It is contrary to the direction of travel set out in the Environment Bill which seeks to move our economy away from the ‘take, make, use, throw’ system to a more circular economic model that keeps resources in use for longer and ensures that we extract the maximum value we can from them;
  • It could prejudice the delivery of the market housing on the adjacent allocated site because of the developer’s concerns about the impact of the proposal on the sales value of dwellings; and
  • It could prejudice the delivery of affordable housing on the adjacent site by the Community Land Trust.

See:

CPRE Sussex response Ford incinerator 2020

Planning application WSCC/036/20)

Ford Parish Council letter

CPRE Sussex Making Places project

Ford Making Places community workshop