FORD ECO-TOWN: Rose-tinted view fails to see the bigger picture

It has been already established that minister Caroline Flint did not tour the whole area of the proposed housing development, and viewed only what she could see from the concrete runway.

I would refer to her letter to the Littlehampton Gazette published in on August 14, when she stated she viewed the the whole of the site from the former runway of Ford Airfield.

Any one who lives in the area knows you cannot see all of the area from the runways.

If the reference to the wording, articulate, confident and rich, was to demonstrate there are people not being heard and are not articulate, confident and rich, (which I think is an insult to them), why not say so, which would have made the point clearly avoiding misunderstandings and having a member of the Ford Enterprise Hub having to interpret what she really meant.

I think it is clear to all who saw the interview what she meant.

I point out that I am not rich, and most certainly against the Eco-Town as it will not help those on the housing list and will destroy the area.

The Ford Enterprise Hub has not guaranteed the number of affordable houses proposed will definitely be allocated to the number of quoted numbers of local people on the housing list, and not sold off to people outside the area.

With regard to the numbers quoted, there are approximately 4,000 people on the Arun housing waiting list, of which no more than 400 are assessed as being in severe housing need, and to destroy the area of Ford, Yapton and Climping is not the answer.

Social housing needs to be provided in the areas where they are needed, and it will be known that people on the housing list have been asked by the council and unanimously they wanted to stay near their family and friends.

This was reported at one of the parish council meetings on the Eco-Town

A clean new town?

With more than a thousand cars visiting three times a week for the markets, and the hundreds of lorries bringing in waste from all over Sussex to burn and produce power?

A lovely picture is painted, but the housing development proposed does not meet the government criteria for it to be an Eco-Town, and I wonder if the Ford Enterprise Hub will be brave enough to clarify if the governments assessment of an Eco-Town will be met in all seven criteria.

They would not get past the first one, (zero carbon and environmental standards)

With reference to the A27, Caroline Flint has already said the completion of the A27 will have no bearing on the decision for the Eco-Town and will have no leverage in bringing forward a decision on the A27.

With or without the completion of the A27 the roads around the proposed development will have great problems.

An Eco-Town is a good idea but must be an Eco-Town and meet the required criteria for the benefit of all in Arun.

Richard Brennan

Wooldridge Walk

Climping

NOTE: All letters must include a name and address which can be withheld by request.

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