Littlehampton MP backs fight against Courtwick homes

The document, which opposes the proposals for land north of Courtwick Lane, Littlehampton, has been organised by residents, many of whom were at a public meeting organised by MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Nick Gibb earlier this month.

Mr Gibb said: “The fact that 120 people turned out on a cold and damp winter morning is a clear sign of the worry and anxiety about concreting over yet more of the green spaces around Littlehampton.

“While we all accept the need for good affordable housing for local people, we do not believe that building on good agricultural land is the answer.”

Council discussions

Littlehampton town and Arun district councillor, Mike Northeast, however, said that concerns needed to be addressed through the North Littlehampton Steering Group, of which he is a member, and which is in discussions with developers.

Inviting Mr Gibb to the steering group’s next meeting, he said: “We are dismayed that Nick Gibb would call this meeting, without first talking to the steering group.

“He has not had any consultation or discussion with locally-elected councillors, who know about the proposals and have studied the plans, before the event.”

Issues raised at the public meeting, which was held at Wick Hall, Wick, were many, said Mr Gibb.

“People expressed their concerns for traffic management and safety, access to their homes, school capacity, work opportunities, the effect on the environment, flooding of neighbouring fields.

“The list is extensive,” said the MP, who urged other residents with concerns to write to Arun, which will decide on the application in the coming months.

Affordable housing

While Mr Northeast recognised that there were concerns and objections, he said they could only be ironed out through negotiation, which was the job of the steering group.

“Yes, there are issues, and we all need to sit down and thrash them out. We do not want developers to come in a ride roughshod over the needs of the town, as has happened in the past.”

He said that there was a real need for affordable housing in the town, and that only large-scale development, with the benefit of investment in roads, schools and facilities that it brought, was the way to make sure Littlehampton’s “significant infrastructure deficit” could be addressed.