At the planning meeting last week of the South Downs National Park Authority the Draft Pre-Submission West Sussex and South Downs Single Issue Review of Soft Sand, which did not include the Severals East and West sites, was approved. This is wonderful news for the residents of Bepton, Midhurst and other surrounding villages. Thank you to the members of the campaign group who worked so hard to prevent the sites being included. According to the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, of the 900 public responses to the consultation earlier this year, around 90 per cent were about the Severals sites.

However, there are two more stages of the process: a consultation on the allocations at the end of this year, and then the final stage when the Planning Inspector will determine whether the Soft Sand Review is sound.