Barnham residents fight housing plan

A development firm wants to build 13 houses on the site of an existing dwelling on Barnham Road.

The protestors have compiled a 283-name petition against the proposal. A further 143 letters of objection have been sent to Arun District Council with just two letters in support.

Nearby resident Nigel Smith, speaking on behalf of the scheme's opponents, said the proposal by Southcott Homes stemmed from a wrongly-drawn boundary by the district council seven years ago.

This line signifies the crucial limit of the built-up area boundary within which building is presumed to be acceptable. It includes all of the land of Greenoaks which Southcott Homes wants to bulldoze and replace.

Arun has acknowledged the mistake but has failed to correct it.

Mr Smith said: "This has put residents in a zone of uncertainty and permanent threat from opportunistic developers over the last seven years."

The residents' specific concerns about the redevelopment of Greenoaks related to the threat of flooding and the need to ensure individual sites were developed in a sustainable manner and integrated into their surrounding area, he said.

An Arun spokeswoman said: "Individual boundaries are not amended on an ad hoc basis as they are considered on a district-wide plan.

The existing local plan is being replaced by the core strategy and its related documents.

"The process for updating boundaries is tied to the progress of the council's new planning framework and this would not be due for revision until after the core strategy has been adopted.

"In relation to the Greenoaks application, the council is still in a process of assessing the application and this will include taking into consideration all of the representations the council receives."

Southcott Homes wants to build four two-bedroom semi-detached houses, four three-bedroom semi-detached houses, four four-bedroom detached houses and a five-bedroom house.

The protesters claim an extra 192 journeys will be generated daily from the planned estate.

This equals a 35 per cent increase in the area's traffic flow.

Southcott Homes said in a statement with its application: "The scheme has been designed to retain the existing character and appearance of the surrounding area, while minimising any undue effects on the living conditions of adjoining occupiers with particular reference to visual impact from the adjoining local gap, noise and disturbance...

"The design of the new residential development has considered the character and form of the existing site and also the pattern of development within the surrounding area."

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