FORD ECO-TOWN: Eco-town proposal branded 'rubbish'

They issued their final verdict to the government on the proposals for the 5,000-home development just before today's (Thursday, April 30) deadline for public comments.

Graham Tyler, chairman of Arun District Council's eco-town select committee, told its members they should stop pussy-footing around the plans after they had debated a viability study into the Ford eco-town issued by the government.

"It's the time for us to stop being nice about this," he said. "We have to be a lot tougher. We have to be a lot more robust now in responding to this viability study and exposing it for what it is because it's an absolute lot of nonsense as far as I can see.

"It makes nonsense of the whole thing to even consider that Ford should be one of the eight sites for consideration on the figures that have been produced by the proposers."

One of his strong criticisms was based on a suggested 500-space car park at Ford railway station.

Encouraging all those people to drive to the station severely damaged the eco-town's environmental credentials, he suggested.

His comments led the sub-committee to agree to send a 'robust and forthright' letter to the government's housing minister, Margaret Beckett, as its formal response.

The sub-committee's meeting on Monday attracted just three members of the public in contrast to the widespread protests against the eco-town proposals for the former airfield site a year ago.

Arun planning officer Neil Crowther said the viability study contained many omissions. One surrounded the 41m set aside by the developers for highways works.

It was unclear what the improvements would be and if the money would be enough to cover all the work required.

"It's very surprising that the cost of the highways infrastructure remains unresolved," he stated.

It has also emerged it could take 30 years to complete the project if it is approved. A decision on the final shortlist is expected to be made by the government this summer.

Cllr Terence Chapman said the figures showed the developers would be making just a 30m profit on a scheme which could cost 1.46bn.

He warned: "I can't see that rate of return is going to attract a responsible outfit.

"The cost of borrowing is going to rise in the next few years. It's not going to fall.

"These figures don't add up. I can't believe the department of communities and local government have put a document like this in the public domain."

Cllr Dr James Walsh said: "The more paperwork that has been generated on this scheme the worse the case has become, not better. All these figures are fingers in the wind stuff. They are all based on hopeful expectations and no sense of reality whatsoever.

"There is no evidence to justify them."

Points of opposition

These are the points on which Arun District Council's final opposition to the eco-town will be based:

*it should be scrapped without an Arundel bypass;

*a north-south link to the A27 and the A259 has to be included;

*carbon zero-rated buildings are a must;

*the energy from waste scheme to bring in rubbish from elsewhere should be dumped; and

* jobs in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and the towns' regeneration, will be damaged by encouraging firms to move to the eco-town.

Minister called on to scrap scheme

Scrap the eco-town plans, Yapton councillors have urged housing minister Margaret Beckett.

The parish council members sent a personally-addressed letter to Mrs Beckett with their final comments about the Ford eco-town proposals.

The letter from Monday's planning committee before today's deadline for comments contained 18 points.

They summed up the feelings of residents of the largest of the villages which would be affected by the 5,000 home eco-town on its doorstep.

Andy Faulkner, the committee's chairman, told Mrs Beckett: "The parish council... has very strong misgivings about the proposal for an eco-town at Ford. Mass urbanisation on this scale with its density of design should not be imposed on rural communities."

He said the council was reflecting the overwhelming opposition which existed locally to the threat of an eco-town on the former airfield.

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