Plans to 'spread' homes in North Bersted

Felpham Parish Council wants to avoid overloading one area with the bulk of the intended development.

Its members devised their plan as an alternative to the three options for 11,500 new homes on which Arun District Council is consulting. They agreed it at Tuesday'smeeting.

Parish council chairman Cllr English said: "The developments are large enough to be sustainable and assist with infrastructure, while not being as overpowering as they might be. This option spreads the load. It is not ideal but, perhaps, it is worth considering. It will stop community being set against community."

But he doubted if any of the proposals would see any building work for at least ten years due to the economic conditions and the delay in building the currently-approved 1,350 homes in site six. Cllr Michael Harvey said jobs had to be provided alongside any new housing.

Cllr Connie Reid said it was important that parishes kept their identities instead of being swallowed up into an urban mass.

The council's alternative focuses the growth in housing in urban extensions around the edges of North Bersted and Littlehampton. But it has also allocated some housing in the rural areas around the larger villages.

For North Bersted, it envisages:

* 1,000 homes of which 40per cent would be affordable housing on land north west of Chalcraft Lane;

* 50,000sq m of office/commercial floorspace;

* new retail and other community facilities, such as a primary school and health centre;

* road improvements to include a new section of the Bognor relief road;

* improved access between the area and the town centre.

Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate would see a combination of sites to involve development in several locations. These could accommodate 1,500 homes under his proposals.

The choice also foresees 2,000 homes at Toddington near Littlehampton, 500 at Angmering and 200-400 spread around the rest of the district.

Arun's options intend the housing to be placed in greater numbers on fewer sites either in North Bersted, Littlehampton, Angmering or Westergate, Barnham and Eastergate.

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