Trees needed on Felpham estate

Cllr Elaine Stainton said the greenery would improve the appearance of the centre of the Site Six development north of the existing housing.

She said: “The beginning of the development is very nice and lovely but the further in you get it’s not looking so good.

“There are some high buildings in the middle. It needs a lot of trees there to break it down.”

The Felpham West district councillor said she was glad the developer, Barratt David Wilson Homes, had acted on the concerns of residents in Westmorland Drive and moved some of the newer houses away from their homes.

Her comments came as Arun District Council’s development control committee unanimously agreed a plan by Barratt David Wilson to change the mix of housing among 434 of the 770 dwellings in the develoment.

The alterations will see more two and three-bed houses built and fewer four and five-bed properties. There will also be fewer flats.

The changes will increase the density of one area of the large site and reduce it in two further sites.

Barratt David Wilson technical director James Dunne told the committee the change had been made in response to the changes in the housing market in the past four years.

They also reflected the company’s wish to meet the concerns of existing homeowners closest to the development.

“We have listened to the community’s concerns over the positioning of some of the properties, particularly at the end of Westmorland Drive, and these have been re-positioned.”

Cllr Jacqui Maconachie (Aldwick West), one of the committee’s members, said: “Any redesign that takes the new development further away from existing residential buildings is a plus point.

“It is also very pleasing that, in reacting to the current market conditions, this gives us 39 more three-bed houses which, as we know, are certainly the ones which are hardest to supply at the moment.”