Hundreds turn out to see Walberton plan’s progress

PLANNING for the future has been high on the agenda in the Walberton area.

The villages of Walberton, Fontwell and Binsted are busy producing a neighbourhood plan for the whole parish and residents were given a glimpse of the progress earlier this month.

The neighbourhood plan steering group held their first open day on November 8 to encourage residents to become part of the decision- making process and the group was bowled over by the response.

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More than 500 visited the village hall – some 36 per cent of the adult population - to give their views on possible building sites.

Steering group chairman Suzi Clark said she was delighted with the turnout and that ‘everyone seemed so interested and engaged’ in the issues the plan aims to address.

The key for task group is to agree where at least 50 new homes are to be built in the parish during the next 15 years. Many local residents at the event expressed concerns at the many new development proposals across the area – proposed diversions of the A27 and A29 as well as threats of large numbers of houses as proposed for the surrounding villages in Arun District Council’s local plan.

The next task for the steering group will be to analyse the many hundreds of comments submitted and to work towards a vision for the future. For more on the plan, see www.walberton.org.uk