Save Our Sussex campaign shortlisted for national award

Sussex has seen many protests against housebuilding on green spaces

A campaign by the website SussexWorld and its portfolio of quality newspapers across Sussex to protect our precious green fields from development and get central Government in Westminster to devolve housing numbers – along with many other powers – to local councils has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award.

If you support the campaign, please vote for it by going to the online vote now – click here to vote.

In March, National World titles in Sussex including SussexWorld, the Chichester Observer series, West Sussex County Times, West Sussex Gazette, Worthing Herald, Eastbourne Herald and Hastings Observer series, launched the ‘Save Our Sussex’ campaign.

The campaign aimed to highlight the threats posed by overdevelopment and the huge pressures caused by unrealistic housing targets in a county sandwiched between the sea and the protected South Downs. It called for greater powers for councils to determine their own housing needs and annual targets, free from the influence of centralised calculations as well as stronger protection for greenfield sites than national policies currently provide.

The Save our Sussex campaign has been nominated for an award

The campaign raised vital questions for the area such as whether crucial infrastructure such as roads, sewerage system, schools, and healthcare would be able to cope with a sharp increase in the population and gave a voice to local residents concerned about the issue.

Its opening message rings as true today as it did then: “Our councils are facing huge pressure to deliver on the government’s housing targets. They are often impossible to achieve without concreting over vast areas of green fields. In some cases, even developing every blade of grass would still likely see councils fall short. We believe it is time for change.”

Save Our Sussex is one of 13 local and regional campaigns shortlisted for the 2022 Making a Difference Award as part of Journalism Matters, an annual initiative run by the News Media Association to highlight the vital role trusted news media journalism plays in our democratic society.

Gary Shipton, Editor In Chief of SussexWorld and its Sussex newspapers, said: “It really is time that key issues that affect the regions are devolved by Westminster to local councils. We know what is best for our communities. The amount of development that central government continues to demand of this county and its green fields is unsustainable and completely unacceptable.

“Everyone accepts the need for some low cost housing for local young people. The harsh truth is all this housing is rarely genuinely low cost and much of it is being bought by Londoners desperate to escape the overpopulated capital city in a post lockdown world.

"The consequence of all this extra housing is to turn our roads into giant car parks – despite all the promises, the upgrade to the A27 around Chichester, Arundel and Worthing moves at a snail's pace. At the same time GP surgeries, hospitals and schools struggle to cope within their confined budgets.

"We are hugely proud of Sussex. We want to keep it special. The best way is to remove central's Government's control over housing numbers – and much else – and to delegate it entirely to our local councils. Our MPs have made progress in improving the algorithm which sets housing numbers but the best outcome would be to remove Westminster from the equation entirely. I do hope everyone who agrees with this will vote in these awards and show their support.”

Voting is open from now until 5pm on Wednesday (November 2) at https://newsmediauk.org/making-a-difference-vote – please click now to register your support for the campaign.

The News Media Association is the voice of national, regional and local news media organisations in the UK – a £4 billion sector read by 47.4 million adults every month in print and online. Nine-hundred national and local news media titles are published in the UK, with 68 per cent of under 35s agreeing a world without journalism would harm democracy. Research by Ofcom last year found just 33 per cent of people think social media is a trustworthy source of news.

NMA chief executive Owen Meredith said: “Campaigning by news media titles delivers real benefit for our society in all sorts of different areas. Part of the NMA’s Journalism Matters campaign, the Making a Difference showcase brings together these initiatives and tells the story of news media’s contribution to our democracy.”