Press release from Nick Herbert MP

Given that the news from the High Court was a bit of a downer - I thought I'd put a press release I just got on here to show that the fight continues!

For me - it's not just about Ford Eco Town, it's also about any kind of unsustainable development, wherever it is!

Housing targets for Arun are “unsustainable”

Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert has said that the Government-imposed targets for house-building in Arun over the next 20 years are unsustainable and threaten the character of our villages and countryside.

Mr Herbert raised particular concerns about the proposed additional housing in the Five Villages area and at Angmering.

The MP was speaking at public meetings in Aldingbourne on Friday evening (23 January) and Angmering on Saturday morning (24 January) following the publication of a report by Arun District Council which sets out options for building thousands of new homes in the district by 2026.

The report, entitled ‘Arun Core Strategy – Options for Growth’, has already been considered by the Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF) Sub-Committee and will be issued for public consultation from 12 February to 26 March.

The report sets out the following options for development in Arun:

1) Sustainable urban extensions, with 2,500 homes to the north-west of Bognor Regis, 2,000 north of Littlehampton and 500 at Angmering, with a further 400-900 on greenfield sites on the edge of existing inland settlements;

2) An ‘eco-town’ of 5,000 homes at Ford, with a further 400-900 on greenfield sites elsewhere in the district;

3) Expansion of inland villages – 2,500 around Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate, 1,500 at Angmering and 1,500 north of Littlehampton, with a further 400-900 on greenfield sites elsewhere in the district.

The Council will choose one, or a combination, of the three options and produce a draft Core Strategy which will be subject to a further round of public consultation, before a final version is submitted to the Secretary of State. The Council has already indicated that it has a preference for Option 1, believing it to be more sustainable than Options 2 and 3.

The LDF process will help Arun to meet its obligation to build 11,300 new houses by 2026. This figure represents an increase of 2,000 on the original target of 9,300 set out in the draft South East Plan, prepared by the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA).

Mr Herbert said: “We all know that there is a problem for young people who cannot get a foot on the property ladder, and think we accept that there will have to be some increase in housing. The debate will be about how much housing there should be and then about where you put it. But I think the overall levels of housing which are being proposed for the South East, for West Sussex and for Arun, are unsustainably high.

“We’ve already seen a situation in which the number of houses proposed for West Sussex over the next two decades has increased from 58,000 to more than 74,000. 10,000 of those have been absorbed in Shoreham but a significant amount of the extra housing that has been allocated through the Regional Assembly, and in the Government demanding that there should be more, will be built in Arun where the allocation has gone up from 9,300 to 11,300. And that puts our own local authority in a very difficult position. Extremely difficult decisions will have to be taken about where to allocate that housing.

“I think we all have to decide, as a West Sussex community, whether we want to turn our rural villages into a kind of suburban conurbation, because that could happen over the next 20 years if these decisions are got wrong. We will find that our villages lose their individual identities and developments will run into each other, much as they have done around Worthing. I suspect that local people don’t want to see that. I think it will irrevocably change the character of this area.

“There are, of course, very serious arguments about sustainability of development, both of the eco-town and of development that may affect our villages. Have we got the infrastructure to sustain development on the scale proposed? We all know about the problems on the A27, the need for a new Arundel bypass, pressures on our public services, pressures on water supplies in this part of the world, and so on.

“Additional housing must be sustainable, added without causing the kind of wreckage to our countryside and to our villages that we’ve all seen elsewhere.”

Mr Herbert added that the proposed eco-town at Ford would not help the situation or the development pressure on villages because the housing numbers might add to Arun’s target. He strongly criticised some promoters of the eco-town who mistakenly believed that new housing at Ford would prevent development at Aldingbourne.

The MP said: “This kind of beggar-my-neighbour approach is deeply unfriendly and unfair to neighbouring communities. We should all share a common concern to protect the rural character of our villages.”

Hmmmmm - not such good news from the BARD judicial review

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7852546.stm

Not such happy news - we'll have to wait until we get to see the reasons behind this - but the judicial review was never going to be the end of the line.

Anyone got any more information on this?

Judicial Review - Still waiting for that decision...!

Just heard from the Weston Front campaign

"The process is taking far longer than originally thought. Most of tomorrow (Tuesday) will be spent with the various QCs summing up their position. This may extend into Wednesday with the judge giving his oral opinion on Wednesday afternoon.

It is impossible to say which way it will go!"

Will put something here when we know!

Question Time

Just been watching failed Housing Minister, Caroline Flint on BBC Question Time - she came across as extremely inarticulate stealthy and bitch!

Shadow minister praises efforts to halt eco-town

Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps has backed residents in their fight against a Ford eco-town. Mr Shapps spent three hours talking to villagers about their campaign to stop the 5,000 home development.

He described the work of the Communities Against Ford Eco-Town group, parish councils and their MPs as extremely well organised. Click here for more...

Court challenge over eco-towns plan

Campaigners from the Shires are launching a High Court challenge over the Government's eco-towns project. They argue that there was a lack of proper consultation and the policy to build "environmentally-friendly" towns to meet housing needs is legally flawed.

The two-day challenge at London's High Court is being led by the Better Accessible Responsible Development (BARD) Campaign, which is opposed to 6,000 new homes being built near Long Marston, Warwickshire. Click here for more...

Selection of shortlisted sites in spotlight

A judicial review into the process of selecting the proposed eco-town sites has been taking place in the High Court Yesterday (Wednesday, January 21) and today. It was launched by a protest group against one of the schemes in Warwickshire against the government's methods for compiling the shortlist of intended locations.

District council planning officer Neal Crowther told the sub-committee that the campaigners claimed the method of compiling the list was neither transparent nor democratic. "If they win, there would need to be complete re-starting of the eco-town process," he stated.

It's unknown when the case result will be announced.

Bid to have eco-town withdrawn from shortlist

Two MPs this week renewed their call for Ford to be withdrawn from the shortlist of proposed eco-towns. Nick Gibb and Nick Herbert say the proposal is not a viable option.

They have sent a letter to Arun District Council explaining their views ahead of the re-opening of the council's special select committee which will consider the latest evidence about the scheme for the 5,000-home development. Click here for more...

Put letter writing on your TO-DO list!

The government have proposed a second round of consultation, which means we have to do it all again. If you are against the Eco-Town at Ford Airfield, you must write and tell this government why.

Use the letter writing HELP PAGE!

We have until Thursday February 19th 2009

Don't even bother contacting the DCLG through their Eco-Towns website. They give little options for you to voice your opinion. That's democracy for you...

Happy New Year

Thanks to everyone who have supported this website and the CAFÉ campaign over the last 9 months... Well done to the core team and the people backing them up... As our petition says - there are tens of thousands of people against this Eco-Town... A BIG THANKS TO YOU ALL...

750,000 British Homes Are Empty

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said there were about 762,635 properties in the UK not being used, while there were 1.6m families on council house waiting lists. The group said the homes could be filled, if the state took the right steps. But little has been done to support those without a home, the RICS said. Click here for more...

Littlehampton and Angmering sites earmarked for thousands of new homes

CRUNCH decisions on where thousands of new homes should be built in Arun are set to be made in the new year.

Littlehampton and Angmering are among the areas where major new housing development could take place, with one of the three options revealed this week including 1,500 homes for both communities. Click here for more...

Eco-town champion admits programme is likely to fail

Here is some Christmas cheer for you - One of the cheerleaders of Gordon Brown’s eco-towns programme has admitted that it is likely to fail because the government had “made such a screw-up it will disappear”.

David Lock is chairman of masterplanner David Lock Associates, which is involved in two of the schemes, and a former chairman of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), which has been advising the government on the programme. He said it was hard to see how any schemes could get planning permission before the next election, and that if the Conservatives win, they would scrap the schemes. Click here for more...

Credit crunch crazy

A senior county councillor has attacked the continuing plans for a Ford eco-town as 'credit crunch craziness'. Cllr Derek Whittington said the growing concerns about a recession made the government's desire to carry on with the 5,000 home idea as much out of time as it was out of place.

He described the scheme as ill thought-out. "We have advised the government of our concerns over the suitability of Ford as a strategic development location. click here for more...

Letter form John Mills

Sirs

With reference to the letter in the West Sussex Gazette December 3rd entitled “Consider eco-town ideas for the sake of all” by messrs Dixon, Hall and Penfold, co-authors of the Ford Enterprise Hub (FEH) I wish to be given the opportunity to take issue with the comments made.

A. They state that one of our local MP,s is “attempting to push development into locations already identified as undesirable” (Their words not mine). This in itself I refute, but are not Dixon, Hall and Penfold doing exactly that . Is it not the very same site and same developers who are now promoting the eco-town at Ford, and in which they, the FEH are now in partnership with, tried to build on in 2000/2001 but was considered “undesirable” and therefore rightly refused by the Local Planning Authority.

B. For the threesome to say that community is being turned against community is to stir up ill feeling in the local area. The only ill feeling I have against Aldingbourne and I’m sure I speak for others is a certain three individuals, namely Dixon, Hall and Penfold.

C. They infer that residents in favour of a new settlement are being prevented from speaking freely. Have not the developers/promoters held their very own road shows giving those in favour a prime opportunity to voice their support for an eco-town at Ford. However this proved that although the concept of living a greener life style was supported in general terms an eco town at Ford was overwhelming not. Supporters of the development have the very same means of voicing their options as those against it. I believe we still have freedom of speech in this country.

D. They welcome debate, placing local needs at the fore front of their proposals. I challenge them to have a balanced debate face to face with the communities of Ford, Yapton, Climping, Arundel and Aldingbourne .

John Mills
Church Rd
Yapton