PARISH COUNCIL DISAPPOINTED BY ARUN DECISION TO APPROVE PLANS FOR WESTERGATE DEVELOPMENT

The Parish Council is disappointed that the detailed plans of Barratt Redrow to build 89 houses at the rear of Meadow Way in Westergate have been approved by Arun’s Planning Committee at its most recent meeting.

One of the Parish Councillors spoke at the Arun meeting and did her best to make the case against the proposals, as did a resident who lives close to the site.  We stressed that we were concerned that the 29 affordable houses are still clustered too close to existing residents on the southern boundary, and that we were not happy that there are now to be three breaks in the long hedge between Meadow Way and Hook Lane, rather than one or two as previously.

The approval means that the developers now finally have full consent to build the houses, almost four years after the first application for planning permission was submitted to Arun.  Throughout this long process, the Parish Council has fought hard first oppose the application altogether, which Arun rejected but was then granted by a Government Planning Inspector; and then to oppose the detailed plans (‘Reserved Matters’) for the development, leading to Arun refusing them twice.

Chair of the Parish Council Cllr Sue Foott said:

“I am very sad that the Parish Council’s, and residents’, long fight to oppose this development has come to an end.

“However, I take comfort in the fact that thanks to our repeated objections, the developers eventually scrapped their extremely unpopular plans to include a three-storey block of flats in the middle of the site.  They have also included more green space in the development, and moved the houses on the southern boundary further away from existing homes.  

“We will now concentrate on trying to ensure that the developers’ Construction Management Plan, which governs issues like the hours when works can take place, protects residents as much as possible.

“I pay tribute to all the residents who have attended our meetings to scrutinise the plans, and to those who took the trouble to send their views to Arun”.