Plan’s serious flaws

Since this application puts forward only its more acceptable features, it is necessary to emphasise the many serious objections that should receive equal weight.

1) the quality of life for about 1,000 existing residents north of Worthing Road would be severely worsened. This would particularly be the case if the threatened permanent closure of Toddington level crossing takes place.

Some residents of Toddington Lane would benefit from a reduction in the amount of traffic passing their homes, but the rest of us would be seriously inconvenienced by the blocking off of the only way out northwards from the Eden Park estate and the older areas of Toddington hamlet.

The civic amenity tip and our parish church at Lyminster would be much more remote and the A27 and Arundel would be much more difficult to reach.

2) if, as is often alleged, the provision of “affordable homes” is of prime importance, why is the provision of such homes only “up to 20 per cent”, when the much higher figure of 40 per cent has been the requirement in the past?

Why not 100 per cent, which was achieved in former council housing estates?

3) most of the statistics available refer to housing needs in the whole of Arun district. Demands for housing in Littlehampton itself would, of course, be much lower. Littlehampton has in recent years been expanded northwards by large numbers of new homes on the former HRI site in Worthing Road and by the Eden Park development; we are now faced with the Courtwich scheme of about 600 homes and a further 91 next to The Body Shop at Watersmead.

4/ Arun’s local plan says any development must not “have an unacceptable impact on individual features or the character of the landscape” and must be “sustainable” – which should be sufficient to rule out the further destruction of our valuable, high- quality land which is more suitable for food production!

W. F. Daggett

Barn Close

Littlehampton