Chichester Harbour Action Summit agrees environmental improvement plan

A Chichester Harbour Action Summit meeting was recently convened by the Chichester Harbour Trust to agree an action plan to recover the environmental status of Chichester Harbour - bringing together the key agencies and existing work areas to ensure efforts are joined up.

This area of natural beauty (AONB) is a nationally and internationally important nature site.

The meeting, held in Chichester Harbour, was attended by the Chairs of the Environment Agency and OFWAT, the CEO of Southern Water, both the Leader and Chief Executive of Chichester District Council, representatives from Natural England, the CEO and Environment Manager of Chichester Harbour Conservancy, and representatives of the Chichester Harbour Trust. 

A comprehensive list of actions, in the immediate term, and then into the medium and longer term, were agreed, covering water quality, nitrates, habitat restoration, coastal management, and much more.

A follow up meeting was arranged in December to provide a progress update on these actions, ensuring continued momentum on this important work.

John Nelson, Chair of the Chichester Harbour Trust and Chair of the meeting, said: “We arranged this meeting with a sense of urgency given the ongoing environmental deterioration that we are all seeing in the Harbour.

"We were very encouraged that all parties who attended approached the issues in a collaborative spirit and with a sense of renewed energy.”

Matt Briers, CEO of the Chichester Harbour Conservancy, added: “Thanks to the detailed preparation ahead of the meeting we were able to agree a comprehensive list of actions on the day.

"These will help us to progress our collective aim of reversing the decline of our Harbour. The challenge is now to ensure these actions are delivered with vigour. We look forward to keeping our local communities up to date on the progress we are making.”