Plan to build 250 news homes in Yapton is rejected

The 25.4 hectare (61 acre) site would have surrounded protected land to the north and east of St Mary’s Church, leading to what campaigners claimed would have been an irreversible, negative impact on the village’s rural feel.

Vicky Newman, chairman of the No Yap-Town community group, which has been fighting the scheme, spoke against the proposal during Wednesday’s (March 12) development control meeting, at the Arun Civic Centre, Littlehampton.

She said that if the plan was approved, it would have an ‘inappropriate’ and ‘detrimental’ effect on the conservation are around nearby St Mary’s Church, as well as the general rural setting of that part of the village.

She said: “In our opinion, this proposal clearly fails to demonstrate, on many levels, any tangible benefit to community, countryside or conservation area, having many adverse impacts which would substantially outweigh the suggested benefits within the applications.

“The proposal’s impact would irrevocably damage a key conservation area and its setting.

“It is also far too large a housing development to have anything but a detrimental and irreversibly negative impact on the village in terms of facilities, transport and environment.”

A total of 124 letters of objection were received by Arun from villagers, as well as 322 postcard objections and 146 signatures on two separate petitions against the site.

For the full story, see today’s Littlehampton Gazette (Thursday, March 20).