Leave fields alone

The area is densely populated already and 600 more homes will increase demands on local schools and NHS facilities which are already stretched.

The roads are congested and the demands of entry and exiting the proposed development will make matters worse.

To suggest an entry to such a development from the Littlehampton bypass seems ill-conceived.

Around 900 extra cars will contribute extra pollution for our community.

This development will not help those on the housing waiting list, as it is unlikely that a significant proportion of social housing will be included.

One of our pressing problems is a lack of jobs locally. Where are the people who might move to this proposed development going to work? Very few will be able to work locally. Most will have to travel to work. The new development will be a dormitory area for the Gatwick “Diamond” and will do nothing for our community.

Furthermore, this need to travel to work will add to the pressure on our already over-stretched road and rail networks.

The land under consideration is not a brownfield site but consists of grade 1 agricultural land.

There should be an absolute ban on the development of greenfield sites while brownfield sites are still available.

There is only so much good quality agricultural land available, on which to grow food for our citizens.

In future I can envisage problems securing enough food for our people in an increasingly uncertain world. This development does nothing to address those concerns.

The farmer who farms this area has been doing so all his working life and his father before him.

His opinion is that a new estate of 600 homes next door to his livestock farm and the ensuing flooding of his remaining land would make it highly unlikely that he could continue in business, to say nothing of the loss of wildlife and habitat forever.

This area earns much of its income from tourism, which employs many people.

It would be a mistake to put at risk such large numbers of visitors by building on too much of what makes this area attractive, quite apart from the harmful effects on people who enjoy living here as it is at present.

We should be very careful in allowing further development in our area.

If this development were to be permitted, then refusing the next and then the next would become increasingly difficult as the precedents would have been established.

Dr David Farrer-Brown

Lyminster Road

Littlehampton