'Do not sacrifice our lifestyle for your greed' - campaigners fighting West Meads housing plans

The pledge was given as some 200 people packed West Meads Community Hall for a public meeting into the proposals to develop farmland north of Chalcraft Lane.

The proposals are for 2,500 dwellings, plus industrial and commercial properties, as well as community facilities on a site which is directly opposite the West Meads estate.

The deadline set by Arun District Council for comments about its land use proposals, of which the Chalcraft Lane area is seen as having most merit, expires at 5.15pm today (Thursday, April 2).

Those who attended last Saturday's90-minutes gathering were urged to raise as many objections as possible.

The farmland being lined up for development is mainly owned by the Church Commissioners, with the rest the property of the Langmead farming family.

Mr Gibb, the MP for Bognor and Littlehampton, said he would continue fighting the intended scheme for months to come.

"I am trying to get a meeting with the head of the Church Commissioners based in London to say 'don't do this, don't be greedy, don't try to make money out of the quality of life of the people of Bognor.

"That piece of countryside is our back garden, our breathing space and is the most fantastic piece of countryside.

"It's part of our quality of life. The whole of Bognor appreciates it," he stated.

Aldwick Parish Council chairman Cllr Carol Wiseman said: "This development will be a new town, not an urban extension. Although the land is in Bersted, it will affect us the most."

It would have a major impact on the roads around Bognor because of the extra vehicles which the housing and businesses would generate.

But it would also affect existing households individually.

She warned: "It's very, very likely we will flood on West Meads because there's a flood plain over there (Chalcraft Lane) and an underground stream.

"What happens when you put tonnes and tonnes of concrete and tonnes and tonnes of houses on top? Water goes elsewhere. We are downhill and we will get the flooding."

She stated that some toilets on the estate were already becoming blocked with sewage because of drainage problems.

Bersted parish councillor Martin Lury fought the Church Commissioners about the site six development off Chichester Road.

He said: "I am very annoyed that the Church Commissioners have come back yet again to pillage Bognor. It is unbelieveable.

"That land is our heritage and we are losing it."

He repeated his warning that the development would create Bogchester as the two urban areas merged."

West Meads Residents' Association member Ray Keen, of Blenheim Court, said the size of the intended development would dwarf the current estate.

"It is five times the size of West Meads. Just walk around West Meads and imagine that. It is going to be a lot, lot bigger. It is going to hit residents of West Meads particularly hard. As a resident right against Chalcraft Lane, it is going to hit me hardest.

"We will be the first to be hit if there is going to be any flooding."

The Chalcraft Lane scheme is one of three options put forward by Arun District Council to meet government housing targets for 2026.

The others concentrate development around Littlehampton, Ford, Westergate, Barnham, Eastergate and Angmering. Once Arun has made its choice, an examination in public will take place.

"We will be the first to be hit if there is going to be any flooding."

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