Nine years later, an attempt was made to extend this limit, so as to include land north of Worthing Road, but the inspector at the local plan inquiry in 1993 refused to allow this.

Following a second local plan inquiry, the inspector agreed in 2002 that development could now be allowed up to the railway line – but he preferred commercial, rather than residential premises. Arun opted for housing, which resulted in the current Taylor-Wimpey Eden Park estate at Toddington being built.

I had pointed out that there could now be no stopping the relentless spread of Littlehampton, with the possibility of the Black Ditch becoming the next boundary, to be followed by further building on the countryside right up to the A27, and even as far as Arundel itself!

Now we are faced with proposals to extend the development line northwards from Toddington, with a temporary halt caused by possible flooding from the Black Ditch – how long will that line be held?

For many years, strategic gaps prevented the coalescence of neighbouring settlements, following the awful warning of the way in which the whole of the West Sussex coast had been turned into, virtually, one single conurbation.

Why should the destruction of our valuable countryside and a potential source of home-grown food be allowed to continue in the name of "progress" or "planning"?

W. F. Daggett
Barn Close
Littlehampton

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