Plans for homes in Eastergate are withdrawn

Hillreed Homes Ltd decided to scrap the sixth bid in just over two years to build on the gardens of houses along Barnham Road.

The company's decision was made just before Arun District Council's development control committee would be recommended to reject the application.

Council planning officer Jonathan Parsons said in a report to last Thursday'scommittee meeting the scheme for 14 houses should be rejected for two reasons.

One was the fact that the proposal was in an area at risk of flooding where new development is usually resisted.

No information had been submitted by Hillreed Homes to show how the run-off of water from the houses could be tackled without causing flooding during the winter or wet periods.

The second reason was the fact that the contribution which the company should make towards library, open space and education services which would be used by the homes' occupiers, could not be met in the locality.

The five previous applications by various developers for the site have all be refused by Arun since March 2004.

Four of them went to appeal to the government's Planning Inspectorate.

Three were rejected by the inspectors. The other was withdrawn before it could be considered. The size of the developments was reduced from an initial 21 homes to 18.

Objections to the latest scheme came in 25 individual letters from residents as well as Barnham Parish Council.

They complained about the impact on the area of the extra development.

The Environment Agency also complained about the proposals because of the lack of flood risk assessment.

Hillreed Homes wanted to build a mixture of detached, link-detached and semi-detached two storey houses behind the present nos 138-146 Barnham Road.

The new houses were intended to range in size from two to four bedrooms.