Arun councillors to fight government over proposed ecotown

Arun District Council's cabinet of senior members will hold the special session on Monday.

MPs, town and parish councils as well as others opposed to the plans for the 5,000 home development on the former airfield have been invited to attend the session at 6pm in the Arun Civic Centre at Littlehampton.

Arun's leader, Cllr Gill Brown, has reacted with dismay to the inclusion of Ford among a 15-strong shortlist as a potential site for the 'green' development.

Arun has consistently and overwhelmingly objected to the eco-town proposals.

"Our arguments against this are sound," said Cllr Mrs Brown.

"A local development like this cannot possibly achieve the principles of sustainability, delivering local employment, developing on brownfield land and adequate provision of affordable housing. Nor does Ford have the necessary infrastructure to support an eco-town. We believe that is a simple and irrefutable argument."

Cllr Ricky Bower, who heads the council's planning section, said Arun had to galvanise public opinion within the three month consultation period.

"We have to ensure that proposals are not allowed to bypass the normal planning process and that local people have every opportunity to comment."

He dismissed the assurances of government housing and planning minister Caroline Flint that the council's views will be taken into account.

"The minister has completely ignored our grave concerns that such a development would be diametrically opposed to locally agreed planning policies. Those policies have been developed in partnership with local communities, taking into consideration local needs," he stated.

Two separate proposals for an eco-town at Ford were submitted to the goverment among 57 national expressions of interest last February.

They are among the 15 shortlisted sites which will be subject to more detailed sustainability appraisal work including further evaluation of the locations. The government wants to get five eco-towns opened by 2016 and ten by 2020.