I wish to object strongly to the plan for building 250 houses on Bethwines Farm, Fishbourne. Twice this proposal has been turned down in the face of huge disapproval and valid reasons. What has changed?
These are my objections:
1. The local community DOES NOT want this huge development. The Secretary of State for housing has said, 'Local communities should be able to determine not only the right number of homes for their area, but how they fit in'. Bethwines attempts to override local opinion and is not plan-led. Until now, Fishbourne has managed to fulfil its housing obligations positively: this appears to result in advantage being taken to plaster a new town called Bethwines on the village. There are other sites available.
2. This village has a separate identity. It does not wish to join up with Bosham or onto Emsworth. It is a vibrant, busy community with so much going on.
3. The A259, Clay Lane and the other rat-runs (Salthill Road, Blackboy Lane, Apuldram Lane) cannot cope with more traffic. Congestion and delays, already horrendous, would increase further. There's no employment in Fishbourne and it already has the highest level of car dependency in the area. Five hundred more cars on the roads?
4. Grade 2 listed farmland should be farmland, producing ever more needed crops and helping to deal with surface and foul water, already a considerable problem in the area. Apuldram can't cope, onsite treatments are unacceptable, flooding occurs frequently.
There are other issues - school, medical and dental capacity, wildlife, impact on the harbour, noise, pollution, speed of traffic. Fishbourne can come up with smaller sites appropriate to the village and wishes of its inhabitants, as per the Sec of State's words. Bethwines is an imposition.