Relief that planners saw sense over Ford

I think the majority of people in West Sussex are glad the development at Ford has gone away and now concentration can be channelled into thoughts into providing the needs of housing for people in the county, through the proper planning procedure.

In places where the Eco-Town proposals were accepted by the government, councils and people wanted them and they met the criteria laid down for an Eco-Town. This was not the case with regard to Ford.

If the development went ahead, the situation on the roads would have been chaotic, with building lorries while the development was being built and afterwards with the extra cars and lorries delivering waste to the incinerators to generate power.

Is it seriously thought that the development at Ford would solve the need for affordable housing in the area, taking into account the cost of the houses, the number of affordable houses that will be provided and whether families would want to move away from their local areas?

There was no definite proposal from the FEH on how they would attract employment to the area and improve the pay of local people and fortunately the government department responsible saw the shortcomings of the proposals in all aspects.

Lost opportunity for whom? Not the people in West Sussex, but maybe for the FEH, the farmers involved and the developers, but maybe not the developers in the present financial climate.

Richard Brennan

Wooldridge Walk

Climping

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