FIRST thoughts might suggest that a 5,000-home new Eco-town in neighbouring Arun district is of little concern to people living in Worthing.
After all, we have our own issues to contend with in this direction, chiefly, the 875-home new suburb heading our way at West Durrington.
But think again.
For a start, I reckon it's pie in the sky to proclaim that such a massive carbuncle on t
his part of West Sussex will be a "carbon-free" conurbation which will help to save the world.
Its inhabitants won't all ride bikes and have a wind turbine on the roof.
And this Eco-town certainly won't do anything to save the well-being of surrounding communities such as Worthing.
No wonder the county council is "seriously concerned" about the effect this Eco-town would have in the southern part of that authority's area.
It cites the government's on-going procrastination over A27 improvements which, I assume, would be vital if Arun's new town was to get off the ground.
An Arundel bypass would be a must in starting to tackle the resulting local traffic congestion, yet there is no Whitehall guarantee that this will be forthcoming if the Eco-town goes ahead. Talk about putting the cart before the horse!
Then, a little further afield, much of the Eco-town traffic will probably head in the direction of Worthing, which certainly doesn't need any more vehicles clogging up the A27 from the Coach and Horses to Lyons Farm.
It isn't, however, just a case of cars on the road.
Five thousand extra homes at Ford will mean at least 10,000 more people needing to access local services... and that includes hospitals.
We still have several weeks to wait for the PCT Fit for the Future consultation to reveal if Worthing will in future have a hospital worthy of the name, and of the size of our town.
But news of this Eco-town project makes it even more unrealistic to think of a significant downgrading of Worthing Hospital.
Even taking into account that Ford patients can access services at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, and that a new 25-bed Littlehampton Hospital now seems on the cards, many of the new population are likely to be relying on Worthing Hospital for health needs.
Expanding the subject, I wonder if there is any end in sight to this remorseless process of green fields disappearing under concrete and tiles.
I know that people deserve decent homes in which to live but part of the present housing shortage stems from over-demand from immigrants.
The government tinkers with the problem of non-EU arrivals, with its complicated points system, and appears to have no idea (or desire) on how to tackle the expected influx of even more, "legitimate", immigrants from the still-expanding Euro "empire".
Recent figures now show the money could have been spent on providing homes for people already here.
Or am I being too simplistic?
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