Yapton residents oppose proposals for 59 homes

Gladedale Group Ltd has submitted its planning application to build 59 dwellings on Yapton Industrial Estate in Bilsham Road. The plans will be decided by Arun District Council.

Scheme opponent Andrew Knight said a datapack of the main concerns of residents about the intended development was presented to parish, district and county councillors who were present at Yapton Parish Council's annual meeting on Monday.

Also handed over were two petitions, with more than 100 names in total, and several letters of support from local agencies. Mr Knight has urged fellow residents who are similarly worried about the plans to join the campaign at the www.support-your-parish.moonfruit.com website.

He claimed Gladedale failed to respect the impact its proposals could have on local people. Some 20 people work for three companies on the industrial estate.

'For example, they make allowance neither for the fact that the demolition of the existing industrial estate could put local peoples' jobs on the line nor do they recognise any additional strain that would be put on the existing infrastructure.

'In particular,' he stated, 'nowhere in this application do they recognise the well-publicised road safety issues at Comet Corner.

'They make many statements about issues being '˜clear', '˜undeniable' or '˜strictly the case'. One thing that is clear is that this application runs against pretty well every key aim of planning policy.'

Gladedale says the industrial estate is occupied by several small industrial uses which have built up over time rather haphazardly. It describes their range of accommodation as rather poor in appearance and says they rely on open storage of materials.

The company wants to replace the premises with two, three and four bedroom properties which are terraced, semi-detached and townhouses. They will be mainly two storeys, with the townhouses 2.5 storeys high.

'Gladedale has ensured that the proposed development will be sympathetic to Yapton in its design and appearance and that it will successfully build on the existing community.'

The application is described by Arun as being a departure from its development plan which sets out where new buildings should be placed.