TONY Dixon springs to the defence of the Minister for Housing (Gazette letters, August 14), but methinks he protests too much.
Meanwhile, CAFE (Communities Against Ford Eco-Town) continues to represent some 11 villages and towns around the proposed locality.
While we work closely with Arun District Council, which shares our views, it is the 10,000 local people who have signed the petition so far, to whom we answer.
The minister was invited to visit by Arun and CAFE.
Do you not think it strange that she elected not to be shown round by local people, who know only too well, the fields she presumes to concrete over?
Did the minister stand in the middle of the old runway, surrounded by Tarmac and say "Here be brownfields"? We don't know.
Did she ask about the airfield buildings now turned over to Ford Prison this many a long year? We don't know.
Did the minister understand that the current waste recovery plant at Ford does not, cannot and never will produce actual energy? We don't know.
Did the minister look at the hundreds of acres of golden corn, wheat and barley, which, if ploughed up, will lose us the ability to neutralise 6,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year? We don't know.
What we do know is that the minister seems to have difficulty in understanding that of the 4,000 houses stated as needed in the locality, 2,000 are in Bognor and 1,700 in Littlehampton, with a very small requirement of 200 in the Yapton/Ford area.
We are suffering from someone with a big hand, putting it over a small map and losing the plot.
Local plots are, of course, another thing, Mr Dixon.
Terry Knott
CAFE chairman
Church Lane
YaptonNOTE: All letters must include a name and address which can be withheld by request.
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