Barnham housing report sees MP in a tussle with Arun District Council

On Tuesday (March 12), Mr Herbert spoke of his “dismay” of a new “Garden City”-style development being introduced to the Three Villages area, which includes Barnham.

The report, that was circulated to parish councils this week to comment on, could effectively see the Three Villages wiped off the map and replaced by a new town.

However, Arun’s assistant director for planning and economic regeneration Karl Roberts said he was “disappointed” by the MP’s actions to publish the confidential report and said that this was an independent study commissioned by Arun to help its councillors come to a decision about any future, large-scale housing developments near Barnham.

He stressed that no decisions had been made and that this was a speculative study, at the moment.

Mr Herbert said: “However this development is dressed up, with glossy pictures of leafy avenues, it spells the end of the Three Villages and the creation of a new town. Instead of village life there would be suburbia, and instead of green fields there would be houses.”

The document is being prepared before publication of the Arun’s Local Plan, expected later this year.