Rivalry could swamp Ford with housing

Two rival projects to create an eco-town around the village have been sent to the government for approval.

But Cllr Ricky Bower, who is in charge of Arun District Council's planning work, said the ideas for some 5,000 dwellings could see the area being overloaded with new homes.

If either of the schemes was backed by the government, in a process starting next year, it would be extra to the housing which the government will allocate to the district.

This is already threatening to reach 11,300 after the initial proposals for new homes in Arun by 2026 were upped by 2,000 in September.

The south east plan panel decided on the upper figure to the district council's dismay.

The government's communities and local government minister Hazel Blears is considering the proposal.

The eco-towns are being looked at under a different set of government criteria.

But the end result of a go- ahead would still be more housing.

Cllr Bower said he was worried the ideas behind the Ford schemes promoted Arun as being capable of absorbing ever more housing.

'The council is concerned that the constant promotion of the district to the secretary of state as being capable of taking upwards of 5,000 houses is not helpful...,'he commented.

Last month saw Redrow Homes and Wates reveal their proposals for an eco-town.

The Observer then reported last week about the Ford Enterprise Hub's vision for its eco-town based around the former airfield.

Cllr Bower said the hub's ideas were being promoted by three former members of various councils and not the community of Arun as they claimed.

'To attempt to secure the agreement of the secretary of state to such a proposal would, in effect, by-pass the democratic process,' he stated.

'It would also leave Arun with an even bigger headache in terms of trying to ensure a sustainable future for Arun residents, given the continuing lack of investment by the government in the basic infrastructure needed to support the existing community.

'Pertinently, neither eco-town proposal will deliver the long-awaited and much-needed Arundel bypass, which we see as crucial to the success of these plans.'

He said Arun had a duty to consider all options for development.

It could not look at one site, favoured by a few individuals or companies, in advance of serious consideration of the evidence on alternative locations.

This would be contrary to the legal procedures which Arun had to follow when it compiled its local development framework land use guidelines.

The procedure involves the council producing evidence to back its favoured locations for development, holding public consultation about them and submitting the council's proposals to an independent examination by an inspector.