New Littlehampton housing development set to take step forward

The North Littlehampton development proposes up to 1,260 homes, up to 13,000 sq m of employment space, including a 3,000 sq m Enterprise Centre, a 100-bedroom hotel, 60-bed care home, new primary school, community centre and youth and leisure facilities.

The plans, submitted by landowner the Greencore Group for the 85 hectare (200 acre) site, also include a combined heat and power plant, a convenience store, restaurant/pub/café/take-away, extension to the household recycling centre at Mill Road, replacement and new allotments and open spaces and sports pitches.

A new access road would be provided from the A259, extending the Fitzalan link road, which will itself be considered by Arun’s development control committee at a special meeting to decide both applications.

The new access road northwards from the A259 will cross the railway line over a new bridge and will also link with Mill Lane and Toddington Lane.

The site stretches from beyond The Body Shop headquarters in the east to the edge of the existing civic amenity site in the west, and is largely covered with glasshouses, warehouses and other buildings.

An estimated 25 per cent of the land is currently hardstanding.

The plans have attracted fewer objections than the controversial Courtwick development of 600 homes, which was approved by Arun earlier this year. Littlehampton Town Council has objected and voiced concerns that the extra homes could add to the pressure on water and sewage systems, and called for roads on the new estate to be wide enough for traffic.

The Poling Parish Meeting claimed the development “was not needed or appropriate” and appeared to extend into the flood plain, which could affect Poling. The neighbouring communities of Poling and Lyminster had not been considered in the proposals and would be “adversely affected”.

Littlehampton Civic Society objected on the grounds that the development was on high-grade agricultural land in a strategic gap and was outside the built-up area. The society also warned that permanently closing the level crossing at Toddington would lead to extra journey times for at least 500 people living south of the railway.

A further 22 letters of objection have also been received by Arun from individuals.

In their conclusions, Arun officers state the site is in a sustainable location and it is “strongly considered that the principle of develooment on the site is acceptable”.

Their report adds: “The development will bring forward strategic highways improvments for the town, there are no significant visual impacts as a result of the proposals, they will result in job creation for the town and provide significant levels of affordable housing within a high-quality masterplan.”

If the outline plans for the development are approved next week, further proposals will be submitted next year setting out the scheme in greater detail.