Report from Cllr. Henry Potter. CDC Member, the Goodwood Ward.

10/02/2025

District Councillors Report.

Details of this Devolution and Unitarianism, as much as is known to date, was the main feature of the CDC /All Parishes Meeting on Monday 03/02 The biggest concern for me is the future of the District Councils Assets which are considerable compared with other Local Authorities. CDC has property assets of £144 Million! Made up of 118 industrial units/ factory plots, 52 Retail shops with a total rent roll of £3.03 million per annum. These assets have been acquired over a number of years and the revenue goes a long way to maintaining the Services provided and support which has helped keep our Council taxes affordable. Now that the Government has burdened Authorities with increased liability through the introduction of NI contributions for each and every employee, and a reduction of the threshold when this kicks in, they have now opened the door for Authorities to increase local taxes on us all by removing the ‘cap’ on some Council Taxes! Even the Sussex Police are increasing their precept by £14.00 per annum for a Band D householder. And as we now know, our own PC Budget for Boxgrove is hit with a circa £ 670 rise in NI contributions for our clerk, and yours will be similar. This is a classic example of raising taxes from the general public by the ‘back door’ expecting nobody will notice.

Apologies for the gloom of this last paragraph but there is just so much uncertainty at present, I fear for the next couple of years.

An Outline Planning Application for a Commercial Storage and logistics hub on land at Temple Bar is now on the Council Planning Portal, and, though it is just outside your Parish boundary, it will undoubtedly have an impact on Maudlin and Westhampnett and is worthy of comment from you. The App. number is 24/02918/OUTEIA and at this stage deals only with access and the Environmental Impact.

I’ve been made aware of blatant thieving occurring in the locality. Two high value electric bicycles were stolen, on from Westerton and one from Strettington so additional security is advised. Similar reports of crime have been reported in Boxgrove as well. One van, parked on a driveway was broken into and thousands of pounds worth of tools and equipment taken in less than six minutes. All of these incidents were captured on cctv but all the offenders wore ‘hoodies’ making identification impossible. So, be warned! Despite what we are told, crime in Chichester District is on the rise.