Parish protest at plan for Felpham beach huts

Renewed strong protests about 14 proposed new beach huts were made this weekby Felpham's parish councillors.

They took the chance to again criticise the plans by Inspire Leisure to locate the seafront structures on the greensward next to Culver Road.

Arun District Council's development control committee was expected to grant planning permission for the scheme this afternoon (Wednesday, February 4).

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But Felpham Parish Council took the chance to condemn the idea at its meeting the previous night.

Parish councillor Graham Matthews was due to represent the council's views at the committee meeting.

Parish council deputy chairman Cllr Geoff Farrell said the proposals were all about Inspire Leisure wanting to bring in more money. He claimed the extra income would be just 5,040 a year based on the current 360 ground rent for a beach hut.

"For the sake of 5,040, they are going to inconvenience everybody who goes there and everybody who lives there. That amount of money is peanuts compared to the damage it will do to everyone there," he said.

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Cllr George Blampied, who is also the county councillor for Felpham, stated: "The whole scheme is really bad. It is ill thought out. Someone in Inspire Leisure has decided they need more money and they need to get these huts in.

"So, they have just shoved 14 huts in in any old way. It's going to look terrible down there."

He claimed the extra huts would create dangers for children playing in the area because they would generate extra traffic.

"There are 64 huts there now and 48 parking spaces. There will be 78 huts but still 48 parking spaces.

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"It is the only pay and display car park in Felpham. People drive in there, see it is pay and display and drive out again and park in Culver Road and anywhere else nearby for free. It's despicable."

Cllr Paul English, the parish council's chairman and a district councillor for Felpham East, said: "These proposals are appalling and are driven by Inspire Leisure's need for further money coming in. The more we can say and do about it the better."

The proposal for the extra beach huts was deferred by the district council's development control committee two months ago for further information.

Protests from residents about the impact of the additional huts led committee members to find out more from Arun's parks and greenspace service about where the huts are intended to go. A report from the service to councillors says it had no objection to the location of the extra huts.

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