Arun bombshell - 2,000 more homes to squeeze in

The shock announcement has forced Arun to postpone a major consultation exercise on its own planning blueprint for the period up to 2026, while councillors and officers take stock of the implications for the district's already creaking infrastructure.

Although not specifically mentioning Ford, the inspectors' report appears to back a West Sussex strategic plan suggestion that a "new settlement" should be considered to provide more housing.

Ricky Bower, Arun cabinet member for planning, gave the terse verdict: "It's 2,000 homes too many," at a press briefing on Monday, following publication of the inspectors' report on a draft vision for the whole south-east region for the next two decades.

The inspectors are recommending that Arun takes more extra housing than any other Sussex district, and although they suggest there is space for the 2,000 homes west of the River Arun, Mr Bower said the findings meant that Arun could not rule out having to find room for some of them in the Littlehampton area.

That would be on top of the 1,500 homes Arun is itself proposing on land north of the railway line at Toddington, as part of the 9,500 included in its "core strategy '” preferred option" document which was shortly being sent out for public consultation.

For the full story, see this week's Littlehampton Gazette.