Ferring Conservation Group

Affiliated to the Federation *of Sussex Amenity Societies* Chairman: Ed Miller, 17 West Drive, Ferring BN12 5QZ. Tel: 01903 502267 Secretary: John Browning, 4 Alderney Road, Ferring BN12 5PJ. Tel: 01903 501311 The object of the Group shall be to secure the conservation and preservation of the beauty and present character of the public open spaces of Ferring, in close co-operation with other organisations involved in the same work and friendly liaison with County, District and Parish Councils. Object: the preservation of the Character of the OPEN SPACES OF FERRING Press Release We would be interested to hear from other groups whose aim is to preserve open spaces.
	Invitation to join the Conservation Group - Meetings normally take place in the Village Hall aT 2:30 p.m. on the last Friday in the month. New members are always welcome and can enrol at the door.

	The Conservation Group was formed in 1988 and rapidly attracted a large membership. Its continuing mission is to preserve the beauty and character of Ferring. In practice this means conserving its wild life (including some rather rare wild flowers), conserving the framework of open country and undeveloped foreshore that surrounds it (the Goring Gap, Highdown, the Kingston Gap and Patterson’s Walk) and conserving the open spaces and open layout of the village itself. We are a campaigning group, in that we seek to draw residents’ attention to threats to the ‘beauty and character’ of Ferring, and to put pressure on the District and County Councils, and other public authorities, to resist developments which threaten to nibble away at the Gaps, spoil the approaches to Highdown Hill, redevelop the land behind the beach or, within the village, cram two (or more) houses into plots designed for one. In the last 12 months we have seen the ‘framework’ made more secure – the Planning Inspectorate has stressed the importance of the Gaps (and refused to allow more building land to be carved out from them), Highdown Hill has been included in the draft boundaries of the South Down National Park, and a beachside development of 30 flats has been refused. But there is a real threat to the interior of the village in the constant applications for in-filling. These are particularly pernicious when they involve demolishing perfectly good houses in order to build extra properties on the same site. The Conservation Group has opposed the following planning applications: The Strand, The Tudor Close, Owl Nest Cottage, ‘Hadley’, Sea Lane Gardens, Langbury Lane, Malcolm Close – and will continue to oppose all such overcrowding of our village. What goes with more development is more traffic. We are campaigning on this issue too. We have written to our County Council representative about the need for more sensitive advice its officers might give on highways aspects of planning applications, and about the ridiculous ‘No Speed Limit’ on Marine Drive, just before the sharp bend at the beginning of Sea Lane. We need more members (and we welcome back old ones) to lend more weight to the protests we make. If you would like to join, or rejoin, for 2003/04, please let us have your name and address and £1 per member

Planning News – January 2003 (i) The Tudor Close Arun District Council granted full planning permission on 15 January for the first two bungalows to built in the old car park behind the Tudor Close, and for the Conservatory at the Tudor Close itself. The Conservation Group had opposed the bungalows from the beginning but, in the end, the only objection we were able to sustain was to their size. The 15 January meeting also approved the building of a conservatory in the courtyard of the Tudor Close itself. We opposed this, mainly because increasing the capacity of the pub/restaurant would lead to even more parking on the road side and cause even more congestion and obstruction in Ferringham Lane. Two councillors who live in Ferring agreed with us 100% but the County Council would not support an objection on these grounds and so Arun felt they had to approve. Now we wait for the application for the third bungalow (and perhaps others if the developers can enlarge the site ..). (ii) Sea Lane Gardens This ‘nine houses for two’ application is to be dealt with by the Planning Inspector at an informal hearing in Littlehampton on 4 March. This is the biggest in-fill application since the attempt to build 30 flats at The Strand. The rejection of this appeal, which we confidently expect, will send an important message to would-be redevelopers of Ferring and other villages like ours. (iii) Langbury Lane Langbury Lane seems to be the new target for developers in the north of the village. Scarcely a week goes by without another application to demolish a bungalow and build two (or more) on the plot. Some of them are getting approved and this is gradually changing the character of the lane into that of a suburban street. The latest is a second ‘two for one’ application at 23 Langbury Lane. The plans show the new houses backing straight onto the railway, with not an inch of back garden . We have objected and there is still time for individuals to send in their own objection. (Write to The Head of Planning Services at Arun Civic Centre, quoting FG 156/02 by 31 January). (iv) Malcolm Close Arun Council refused permission for a house on this site towards the end of last year. Now the applicants have come forward with a slightly smaller design. But anyone other than a developer looking at this little triangle of land on the corner of Malcolm Close and Ferringham Lane would be quite clear that it is too small to build any sort of house, and that it should be left as a garden area. We have objected to the overcrowding, and the lack of respect for the character of the area. Again, there is still time for individuals to write in (Quote FG 157/02). (v) Other sites to watch The Vineyard, Viceroy Court, The Giant Windmill, and anywhere you see an Orange Notice.
Invitation to Join
If you are not yet a member of the Group, we cordially invite you to join us now. The annual subscription is £1 and can be paid at Oliver & Saunders Estate Agents or at The Travel Desk (next to Coopers Garage), where you can obtain a membership card and programme for 2002/2003. We do hope you will join us. We have been in existence since 1989 and have many members, but the more we have, the stronger our voice when it becomes necessary to raise it in defence of all we treasure here.

Planning News – January 2003