ALMOST 20 new homes could be built on the site of a former orchard. Chichester District Council has agreed to an initial application for 17 private homes to be built in a paddock at Loxwood Place Farm in Loxwood. The proposed development by Martin Grant Homes would include a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes, including seven affordable properties. The three acre site, which is off the southern end of the High Street in the village near the Wey and Arun canal, has most recently been used for grazing animals. Historically it was an orchard, when Loxwood and Kirdford’s main industry was wholesale apple growing.