Bid to save Angmering jobs, even as another 100 at risk

An estimated 85 jobs will go with the closure of West End Nursery, in Roundstone Lane, while more homes are planned on the site of Manor Nursery, in High Street, taking the losses to around the 100 mark.

The village’s neighbourhood plan says no more employment sites should be given up for other uses, unless it can be proved they are no longer needed, or that the alternative use would make a positive contribution to Angmering’s sustainability.

A questionnaire sent out during the plan’s drafting period revealed three-quarters of villagers travel more than five miles to their jobs and overall, three-quarters travel to work by car, resulting, in ‘considerable’ traffic pollution and congestion.

The plan adds: “Already, the single lane stretches of the A259 and Roundstone Lane, Water Lane, Station Road, and Arundel Road are becoming increasingly congested, especially during peak travel periods.

“This traffic congestion will only increase over future years, even if existing employment is protected, as Arun, in their emerging local plan, have planned to build 600 more homes in Angmering.”

Angmering’s level of ‘out-commuting’ mirrors Arun as a whole, with the district ranking 63rd out of 67 local authorities in the south-east when it comes to the ratio of jobs to population aged 16-64.