A group of villagers staged a protest against plans for a big housing development on farmland.
There was much outrage after a 190-home and community development planning application was submitted by Gleeson Land on August 15 for farmland near Bewley Road in Angmering.
On Tuesday, around 150 people gathered on the proposed site armed with placards to voice their frustrations.
To date, 39 public responses have been submitted, a mixture of comments of support and objection.
Angela Colliss is a member of the Protect Farmland West of Bewley Road group, which was formed to stand against any planning applications submitted for the site.
She said: “The new development site map shows an almost doubling of Gleeson’s original proposal to an outrageous 39 acres, all grade one farmland.
“If you stand on the footpath at the end of Bewley Road and look both left and right at the vast expanse of prime land, you’re looking at 39 acres of what they want to concrete over.”
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Group members say they are already “overwhelmed” by developments in Angmering and infrastructure such as roads and GP surgeries are beginning to feel the impact.
Worthing West MP Beccy Cooper joined the demonstration and said the proposal is “inappropriate” and does not “bring enough benefits to outweigh the harm on the landscape and character of Angmering”.
She said: “I think Angmering has grown by 40 per cent in a very short amount of time.
“If you go to a village, you need to make sure that there are doctor surgeries, decent roads and that simply hasn’t been the case here.
“As a Labour MP, I am pro-house building. We need to do it in a mindful way and make sure wherever we’re living, there is the infrastructure we need and that we have good homes and good sustainable green communities.
“I was elected to deliver affordable, sustainable and healthy communities that address our real housing needs. This development does not meet that test.”
Arun District Council oversees planning applications for the area.
A spokeswoman for the council said: "Arun District Council will consider each planning application on its own merits and take into account the development plan, the National Planning Policy Framework and relevant material considerations when determining planning applications.”
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