We need to fight against 'Bogchester'

The rallying call was given at the launch of the campaign to stop 2,500 extra homes in the area.

MP Nick Gibb was joined by about 30 councillors and residents for the event close to the Chalcraft Lane site earmarked for the housing.

It would be built on farmland which provides what is said to be the last panoramic view across to the South Downs from the Bognor area.

Mr Gibb, the MP for Bognor Regis, told them: "We have to fight this development.

"These 2,500 homes proposed for land west of Chalcraft Lane would have a devastating impact on this area and Bognor generally.

"Unless we stand up and fight, the way the people in the villages are, we are going to have these homes dumped on them.

"This is a serious scheme. It is not just speculation. It has been forced on Arun District Council by the government.

"The simple and easy solution from the bureaucrats' point of view is to put a lot of the housing they need in one place.

"That's not right. We need to have a more complex solution by spreading the housing around."

Bersted parish councillor Martin Lury said: "If this scheme goes ahead, you are looking at Bognor and Chichester becoming Bogchester. We fought site six because we knew what would happen '“ that the field off Chalcraft Lane would go for development as well.

"If we don't stand up and fight against this, then Bognor and Chichester will merge, but it will take you two hours to get to Chichester because the roads will be so full."

Cllr Simon McDougall, a Bersted parish, district and county councillor, said it was vital that residents had their say about the housing

proposals.

"People need to get involved and know exactly what is going on," he stated.

He pointed out the flooding problems in the area and the fact that improvements to the A27 at Chichester could be seven years away as reasons to oppose any more homes.

Tony Lancaster, of Newtown Avenue, said: "There's no commonsense behind this scheme. It is completely and utterly thoughtless.

"We have fought against housing in this area for the last 20 years.

Plenty of homes and flats have been built around Bognor lately in people's gardens and a lot of them are still empty."

North Bersted resident Tom Frears stated that Bersted had twice successfully opposed large-scale housing estates being built.

"We will show that the Chalcraft Lane idea is badly flawed. It has to fail," he stated.

Bersted Parish Council has written to Aldwick and Pagham parish councils to enlist their support for the campaign because of the

effect the housing will have on their areas.

The protests are focused on Arun District Council's decision to chose land west of Chalcraft Lane as a possible site for 2,500 of the 11,500 new homes it has to allow by 2026.

The area is seen by the district council as the number one preference '“ ahead of the Six Villages and Ford '“ but a final decision will not be taken for several months yet.

It will be put to a government inspector for approval.

Landowners of the fields, the Church Commissioners and the Langmead farming family, have already put together initial plans for the development, which they label the Bognor Regis Eco-Quarter.

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