Sixty people have objected to Hargreaves Residential Developments Ltd’s plans to build 90 homes on the land north of Beeches Avenue in Worthing.
The proposal is for 67 houses and 23 apartments with car parking on the greenfield site which is next to Worthing United Football Club’s ground, is adjacent to Sainsbury’s and Downlands Retail Park and abuts the South Downs National Park.
Concerns have been raised about the loss of green space, the large increase in the number of cars and associated traffic and the “strain” it would put on local services.
Residents said the proposal should be redeveloped with detached and semi-detached housing which is “more reflective of the surrounding character” and said the design “does not complement the nearby Georgian buildings”.
Objectors also said the site has Iron Age presence found through previous archaeology reports and must be “re-investigated”.
Gavin Martin, who lives in Beeches Avenue, said: “It’s hard to express the joy of living at the top of a road with a beautiful, scenic field, living away from traffic and other distractions – it truly would be a shame to lose such a lovely piece of grasslands.
“I would be deeply saddened should this proposal go ahead.”
Fellow resident Rebecca Dowson branded the plan “ridiculous”.
“The traffic along the A27 is at breaking point and to add further vehicles is beyond ridiculous,” she said.
Lee Pickett said: “The lack of road access for the development is very worrying. The Lyons Way road is already a congested gridlock at various times throughout the day, even more so at weekends and peak times where traffic queues around all the retail parks to get out. Factor in large amounts of construction traffic for works and then the residential traffic the area will be a polluting nightmare for any more trying to use the retail park.”
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At a meeting last month, Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee recommended the scheme be approved.
It said 40 per cent of the homes would be affordable.
The application said access to the site would be mainly through the existing football ground car park at Worthing United into Lyons Way and through the retail park to the A27 junction.
About six of the houses would be accessed via Beeches Avenue. Footpath connections would be formed into Charmandean Lane and another would follow alongside the new access road south of the football ground into Lyons Way.
The application’s design and access statement said: “This proposal will not prevent or interfere with the continued operation of the football facilities. Nor will the development prevent or unduly constrain any future development of the football ground if that land becomes available in the future.”
But Mark Sanderson, chairman of Worthing United FC, said the current parking is “inadequate” at the club and the development would “leave them with less”.
The application said the layout of open spaces and green linkages “has been key to unlocking the sites full potential” and several options have been explored with the aim to “maximise and retain green landscape views to the South Downs National Park whilst unifying a development that settles into the landscape”.
It said: “The development will be an exemplary scheme supplying people with affordable and sustainable homes.”
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