Plan for new housing estate near Fontwell

Kenneth Poland has applied for outline planning permission to build 21 homes and two business units on scrubland.

He has submitted his application to Arun District Council for a decision.

He wants to build on 0.67 hectares owned by Walberton couple Mr and Mrs A Cooke between West Walberton Lane and the A27 at Fontwell. The site is south of Arundel Road and east of Woodside.

Mr Poland says in a statement with his application that the development will provide some much-needed affordable housing in the rural area.

"As a mixed development, it makes the affordable housing an intrinsic part and the business use could be linked to rural activities or to live/work units.

"Being adjacent to the A27, it could also provide keyworker housing enabling keyworkers to move around the county without needing to move home," he comments.

Arun's housing needs survey last May showed 25 households on the housing register in Walberton.

There had been no planning approvals for new affordable housing since then.

Mr Poland says a legal commitment for 13 of the proposed homes to be affordable dwellings will ensure more than half this need is met on one site.

That would be unlikely to be the case elsewhere in the rural area.

An indication of the likely layout of the estate includes four three-bedroom houses and four two-bedroom flats and maisonettes for social housing.

A further four three-bedroom houses would be for key workers.

Another two one-bedroom flats and maisonettes would be set reserved for social occupation.

The properties for sale are likely to feature seven houses - two two-bedrooms, four three-bedrooms and one four-bedroom.

Similarly, the desire to include business floorspace will be a rare instance of jobs being created in the countryside, Littlehampton man Mr Poland comments.

A total of 225sq m of commercial properties will be built to provide some eight jobs unlike other nearby estates which have been created on former industrial sites.

"It is envisaged that the business units will be designed to appear as bungalows and that the dwellings will use a mixture of finishes to give a 'village' rather than an 'estate' feel.

"This should be enhanced by the mix of single and two storey buildings," he states.

But he admits that the intended site is outside the boundaries of the council's built up areas in which it wants to see development take place.

However, he adds the site's easy access to the A27 and the ease of reaching the closest large employment sites and major shops means that the location is sustainable.

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