Arun council heckled as villagers say 'no'

The male heckler summed up the mood of a lively meeting which ended with the total agreement of those still present to save their area from being swallowed up by development.

Some 80 people were left in Barnham Village Hall when the show of hands was taken.

None were put up in favour of the two options put forward by Arun District Council for large new developments in the Barnham, Westergate and Eastergate area or at Ford.

But three out of four people voted for the housing to be concentrated around the outskirts of North Bersted, Littlehamp-ton and Angmering.

Cllr Mike Young, Barnham Parish Council's chairman, said it was formally against major housing around any of the villages.

"The option for more housing at Ford affects us almost as much as the housing for Barnham, Westergate and Eastergate because most of the people who live in an eco-town at Ford will have to come to us to go to work.

"I am personally against building on agricultural land because if we keep taking it I don't know how Europe is going to feed itself at a time of global warming."

Barnham resident Linda Cooper told the meeting: "Putting this housing around the villages will change the character of this area. It will become a town if this goes ahead."

About 100 people filled the village hall at the start of Monday night's meeting called by Barnham and Eastergate parish councils to give villagers the chance to put Arun's chief executive, Ian Sumnall, on the spot about the housing options put forward to meet government targets.

Arun has put three choices forward for the 5,500-6,000 homes it thinks will need to be built on greenfield sites by 2026 for public consultation until next Thursday, April 2.

The one which the council believes has the most merit will see 2,500 homes built in North Bersted and thousands more north of Littlehampton.

The alternatives feature 5,000 homes at Ford and Barnham, Westergate and Eastergate accommodating some 2,600 dwellings along with other sites.

Mr Sumnall explained land was available around the villages for that number of homes but no single landowner, or consortium of owners, had offered to sell their plots.

The villages were also poorly served by road links and had severe problems with flooding. Church Lane in Barnham and Eastergate Lane in Eastergate were mentioned as problem areas.

This would need to be solved as well as new drainage systems installed to cope with the extra waste if any large-scale development was proposed. There would also be the need for GP facilities and new schools, he stated.

In the area's favour, was Barnham railway station's status as the best served in the district but it lacked parking.

Bob Brotherhood, of Highview Road, Eastergate, told him: "They will be problems we will have to pick up when you have retired. We are the ones going to be left with the situation if the houses are built."

Mr Brotherhood, whose home is identified by the Environment Agency as being at risk from flooding, went to the meeting armed with six pages of objections. He frequently challenged Mr Sumnall during his presentation.

Mr Sumnall also answered concerns about the county council's apparent willingness to offer a large area off Church Lane for development.

"The county council do own a quite considerable amount of land in this area," he said. "It's not in our area of search because, at this stage, it's not felt to be the most suitable in the Five Villages area."

Land for travellers rejected

Another vote at the meeting also showed total opposition to proposals to create a site for travelling showpeople at Angels Nursery in Barnham.

The proposal has been included in Arun District Council's consultation until next Thursday, April 2, about how it should meet government targets to provide land for gypsies, travellers and showpeople.

The site is seen by Arun's consultants as the most suitable around the district for the 1-3 pitches the council must provide. It is owned by the county council, and the idea has nothing to do with the current operator of the nursery.

Mr Sumnall told the meeting: "I can assure you that we are consulting with the county council about that proposal on Angels Nursery and we will look very carefully at their opinion.

"It's as difficult to find sites for gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople as it is for thousands more homes."

Arun has to provide 18 extra permanent pitches by 2016. This would end the current unsatisfactory situation where the district had several unauthorised sites or with temporary planning permissions.

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