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Concerns about drainage and a loss of employment land have seen Chichester District Council refuse plans to build nine homes on a site in Bosham.

The application, for Cockleberry Farm, in Main Road, was turned down during a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (June 15).

A report to the committee recommended the application for approval, saying the buildings on the site were ‘obsolete and not fit for continued commercial occupation’.

But this view was vehemently contested by businesses operating from the site.

Existing buildings on the left and proposed layout of the housing development on the right

Julius Thurgood, a stylist and set designer, uses one of the units to store theatrical props.

He told the meeting he had maintained the building to ‘a good working standard’, including rewiring, plumbing and replacing the main doors.

Mr Thurgood – whose work includes contracts for the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival – said he had received no notice of the plans to develop the site and would be unlikely to be able to find suitable premises elsewhere.

He added that the development would be ‘another nail in the coffin of indigenous local enterprise’.

Chris Snowdon, who has operated his classic car restoration business out of another of the units for around 20 years, also said he had received no notice.

Mr Snowdon told the meeting he employed a number of people on a sub-contract basis.

He added: “Trying to find new premises for such a business is going to be really difficult and an uphill struggle.

Replacing Bosham business space with new homes is refused