Westergate revives action group after new homes fears

The Villages Action Group is holding a public meeting next week to enable villagers to express their views about the proposals.

The meeting will take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday, February 17 at the Aldingbourne Community Centre in Oliver's Meadow, Westergate.

Action group founder member Mike Turner said: "We want people to be aware of what could happen in this area.

"We don't mind small scale housing schemes in the villages in keeping with the environment. But we don't want to see a major development of thousands of homes."

Reasons why this could harm the mainly rural area include its lack of jobs and services, the impact on roads and potentially worse flooding because of the loss of fields.

Arun District Council has put forward the idea of 2,500 new homes by 2026 around Westergate, Barnham and Easter-gate as one of its options to meet housing targets set by the government.

The proposal would also involve 1,500 homes north of Littlehampton and 500 at Angmering.

It is not Arun's preferred choice '“ that is focused on North Bersted, Littlehamp-ton and Angmering '“ but councillors who make the final decision could well go for a mixture of the three options.

The other possibility involves 5,000 homes at Ford.

The Villages Action Group was formed in 2003 in response to an idea to fund an A29 bypass around Alding-bourne and a bridge over the railway line by building 1,000 homes in nearby fields.

Public consultation about the latest housing ideas starts today, by Arun and continues until April 2. A final decision will then be taken.

What do you think? Click here to send a letter or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news

Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news

Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP