Rustington gives £8m flats scheme mixed reception

Saxon Weald Housing Association held a public consultation on its plans at the Woodland Centre, Rustington, last week, and will submit a planning application next month.

The one/two bedroom flats are mainly for elderly, frail people already living in the Rustington area. Two-thirds will be for rent, and the rest will be in shared ownership, split 75/25 between the occupants and Saxon Weald.

People living near the Abbotswood site, which has been vacant for more than two years, were among those attending Thursday's consultation.

Most were pleased that the rambling old building was to be demolished, following problems with vandals, anti-social behaviour and even squatters.

However Jill Richardson and her husband Bob, who moved into their Station Road home opposite Abbotswood just five weeks ago, were concerned about congestion in the area, with around 20 new homes being built in nearby Mill Lane and the impact of the Abbotswood scheme.

"The mini-roundabout at the junction of Station Road and Mill Lane is already busy and the roads are quite narrow. I'm worried about the construction traffic while it is being built, and if they have to dig the roads up for sewage improvements," said Mrs Richardson.

Jenny Kewell, who has lived in Station Road next door to Abbotswood for 45 years, warned that the narrow pavement along Station Road and Ash Lane leading into the shopping centre could cause problems for elderly residents of the new housing scheme using electric buggies.

"I'm relieved that they will be over-60s living there, but I'm not overly happy about the three-storey height at our end. It looks like they are trying to get a quart into a pint pot," she added.

Stuart Fullwood, project development manager for Saxon Weald, said most of the residents would be in the 80-90 age group and it was unlikely that many would have cars. At a similar scheme in Billingshurst, only three or four residents in the 40 homes had cars.

Work could start in autumn, 2008, subject to planning approval.