Report says house-building targets for Arun are not excessive

ARUN councillors have defended the decision to pay £20,000 for a report which concluded that earlier house-building targets for the district were not excessive.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Nov 2013, 06:00 BST
Campaigners from Angmering, and from Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate, demonstrating outside Arun Civic Centre against large-scale housing developmentsCampaigners from Angmering, and from Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate, demonstrating outside Arun Civic Centre against large-scale housing developments
Campaigners from Angmering, and from Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate, demonstrating outside Arun Civic Centre against large-scale housing developments

On Thursday, Arun District Council’s local plan sub-committee discussed the findings of a report from Opinion Research Services, which said the figure of 575 homes to be built in Arun each year until 2029 was ‘broadly acceptable’.

That number had originally been proposed in the council’s Strategic Housing Marking Assessment (SHMA), which prompted the sub-committee to put aside up to £100,000 to spend on further examining the SHMA’s data.

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The report concluded the SHMA had ‘taken into account key changes in both population and household projections in a relatively robust manner’ in reaching the number of 575.

Rather than being excessive, the report determined the district’s requirement was in fact 620 homes, based on projections of future population levels.

However, the report also acknowledged a large proportion of new housing would be built for people not currently living in Arun.

Ricky Bower, cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said the council now needed to accept its house-building targets and adopt a new local plan.

For the full story, read this week’s Littlehampton Gazette, out from Thursday, November 7.

Related topics:Arun District Council