Housing Minister Caroline Flint visited West Sussex yesterday to discuss issues surrounding the proposed eco-town at Ford.

During the meeting at Yapton and Ford Village Hall she met with representatives from Arun District Council including the Leader of the Council Mrs Gillian Brown and Chief Executive Ian Sumnall. Also in attendance were MPs Nick Gibb and Nick Herbert as well as representatives from West Sussex County Council, South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), and the development proposers Ford Enterprise Hub and Ford Airfield Vision Group.

The Minister watched a short presentation from the proposers followed by another from the Council highlighting the main concerns over the eco-town plans, which included transport infrastructure, waste and planning procedures.

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Ian Sumnall, Chief Executive of Arun District Council said: "We have always maintained that the Minister needs to visit the area in order to fully appreciate why we object to the eco-town plans at Ford. Through our Select Committee we have highlighted a number of flaws in the plans and we hope to raise these points with the Minister during the meeting.

"Among the concerns we have is the ability of the development to deliver affordable housing. It has been made clear that a site in Arun was shortlisted due to the lack of affordable housing in the area, and we do not deny that there is a need for this in the District. But, for it to be achievable there needs to be a commitment from the Government to fund the affordable housing provision, and so far we have had no guarantees that this will happen.

"Another concern is how this will impact on the extensive regeneration plans we have for Littlehampton and Bognor Regis. These plans are encouraging a huge amount of private investment in both towns but there is a danger that creating a new town at Ford could divert valuable resources away from these projects."

(CD/JM)