That was the outcome of a crucial full meeting of Arun District Council to decide how many homes should be built, and where they should go. And although councillors tackled the first issue, they delayed their decision on locations for future housing until the review has been carried out of the evidence for higher housebuilding numbers. Council leader Gillian Brown’s proposal at a sub-committee a fortnight earlier, that 455 homes a year should be built up to 2019 and then the target should be reviewed for the remaining ten years of Arun’s local plan, was amended in the hope it would carry more weight when it went to be scrutinised by a government inspector. The council agreed to keep the figure recommended by the sub-committee, but added that for the remaining ten years of the plan, a much higher target should be set, of 655 homes a year. Karl Roberts, Arun’s assistant director of planning and economic regeneration, had recommended a target of building 580 homes a year throughout the life of the plan, based on the evidence for housing need produced by the data which is now being queried. Both approaches – the ‘start low, finish higher’ target favoured by councillors – and Mr Roberts’ constant level throughout the plan, end up with the same overall total of 9,280 homes needing to be built in Arun district by 2029. However, sites where large-scale housing had been proposed in the local plan, at Angmering, on Littlehampton’s West Bank and at Barnham, Eastergate and Westergate, will now be deferred until the results of the review into the future housing needs data. Councillors also agreed to spend up to £100,000 on reviewing the data, which fed into a document, the Strategic Housing Market Assessment. And in the meantime, any major developments will be assessed against Arun’s previous local plan, which has now expired, and against government planning guidelines. Mr Roberts renewed his warnings to the council, both that its plan could be judged unsound at a future date by a government inspector, and that developers could submit uncontrolled plans offering no infrastructure gains in the absence of a plan. Councillor Ricky Bower, Arun cabinet member for planning, said he regretted the delay to the plan, but insisted there remained a question mark over the data, which needed to be resolved. Opposition councillors strongly criticised the Conservative-backed proposals, backing Mr Roberts’ warning about the district being under threat from unwanted developments, and again putting Ford Airfield forward as an alternative site for housebuilding, although not on the scale of the ill-fated eco-town proposed five years ago. However, their amendment was defeated.