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DF1 Farlington Station
Last updated: 18 August 2008 11:15 UKLand to the south of the railway line at Farlington will be safeguarded for a new railway station and associated interchange and parking.
4.6.2 This proposal was one of the options considered in the Western Transport Corridor Study as an additional park and ride site to complement those proposed at Tipner and on the land east of the Marriott Hotel on the western side of the city (see also the Local Transport Plan). The proposals comprise a station and space for 450 cars alongside. Development of the car park will need to incorporate adequate landscaping / screening (policy DC2). As well as serving park and ride into the city, the proposed station would also potentially have an important role in providing alternative transport choices for local residents, local workers and users of local facilities. The site falls within the predicted floodplain for a 1 in 200 year flood event, as shown on the Proposals Map and a flood risk assessment will therefore be required (see policy DC6).
4.6.3 The city council has approved a new pitch layout at Farlington which accommodates extended parking and the extension of grassed playing pitch area, (Drawing No LS.244/08/01). The proposed alignment of the car park seeks to minimise the impact upon the three cricket squares, which are more difficult to replace than football or rugby pitches. The development will result in the displacement of two football pitches and one rugby pitch as well as the realignment of a further football pitch. The lost pitches will be reprovided on vacant land to the east of the city council playing fields. The plan protects an area to the east, formerly part of Farlington Marshes prior to the construction of the A27. This site, together with a related area of potential grazing marsh, will be retained as a nature conservation area and has been identified as a SINC, due to its complex of grazing marsh habitats (policy DC18).
4.6.4 Farlington Playing Fields are also used by Brent Geese as winter grazing areas. A winter bird survey was undertaken by Ecological Planning & Research Consultants over 2000/2001 to ascertain the potential impacts upon the Brent Geese, and how the proposals could be mitigated. This survey was commissioned in order to reduce uncertainty regarding the nature conservation implications of the site’s development. The results of the survey confirmed the status of this area as an extremely important site for Brent Geese, and corroborated its identification as a site of major importance within the Brent Goose Strategy. While the potential loss of habitat in providing the railway station and associated car parking could be detrimental, the report indicates that this could be mitigated by the reprovision of an area of suitable grazing in excess of the land take. The above proposals would result in the loss of approximately 1.5 hectares of grassland, but the reprovision amounts to over 3 hectares. Moreover, the new area is likely to provide a more sheltered feeding ground for the geese than the lost area, given its location away from the railway line and the area of greatest human activity in the vicinity of the pavilion and footpath. The new area will be managed for recreational use in a manner compatible with the long term needs of Brent Geese. On the basis of these conclusions, the city council believes that this proposal as a whole is unlikely to adversely affect the integrity of the Chichester and Langstone Harbours SPA / Ramsar site, provided that adequate mitigation is undertaken. Any phasing of the park and ride scheme, however, will need to take into account the need to reprovide lost habitat on this basis. Notwithstanding the above analysis, this proposal will need to be subject to a separate appropriate assessment when a planning application is submitted, to assess the potential implications of the scheme, both alone and in combination with other relevant plans and projects, in more detail, in accordance with policy DC16.
