Chichester Harbour Trust

 

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"to acquire land sites and buildings within the Chichester Harbour Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and its setting of landscape, environmental, recreational or historic value and to promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the natural beauty and the wild life of the area for the public benefit"

In recent years Chichester Harbour has come under increasing pressure from a variety of sources. Spurred on by central government demands for new housing in the south, developers are seeking more and more land; the continuing trend of enlarging existing houses risks the cumulative degradation of the harbour area, and the transition to ever more intensive farming methods is affecting the beauty of the surrounding countryside and the important wildlife habitats within it.

Despite the harbour’s designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Conservancy is finding it increasingly difficult to resist these pressures, not helped by its limited financial resources and the weakness of the planning process. There is a growing realisation among those who value the harbour that ownership is the only sure form of stewardship, and it is this which has led to the formation of the Chichester Harbour Trust as an independent charity.

It is not envisaged that the Trust will become a major landowner in the area but it is hoped that by acquiring plots in strategic positions around the harbour, either to be managed by the Conservancy or leased for use as we would wish, the Trust will be able to play a significant role in preserving the unique qualities of Chichester harbour and its Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for the public benefit.