School creates wildflower meadow without planning permission

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 8 Oct, 15:37 · Archive

Seaford College in Petworth created a wildflower meadow without planning permission, prompting criticism from a local councillor. The school had received approval to build eight tennis courts last year. It then took chalk-rich spoil from that development and moved it to another part of its land to create the wild-flower area, but this required planning permission that was not obtained.

Hannah Burton, a Chichester district councillor, expressed her frustration during a planning meeting on Wednesday 7 October when a retrospective application from the school was discussed. She called the moving of the soil a 'money saving effort' by the school rather than purely an ecological benefit. Burton said: 'That is a lot of waste to get rid of and it's very expensive. They should have planned. It should have been done properly.' She added that the assumption the school could move spoil to 'random land' was 'really inappropriate'.

The agent representing the school said the planning approval for the tennis courts did not include any condition requiring a soil management plan, leading the school to assume it could move the spoil without further permission.

School creates wildflower meadow without planning permission — Image: The Argus

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How it is being reported

School slammed as it builds wildflower meadow without permissionA Chichester district councillor has expressed her frustration after a school started work on creating a wild-flower meadow without planning permissionThe Argus · 8 Oct, 14:51
Councillor ‘frustrated’ as Petworth school creates meadow without planning permissionA Chichester district councillor has expressed her frustration after a school started work on creating a wild-flower meadow without planning permission.Chichester Observer · 8 Oct, 14:06

In this story: Seaford College · Petworth · Hannah Burton · Chichester

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