Plans for 56 homes off the A27 in Fontwell have been submitted to Arun District Council for approval.

The development is for land between Arundel Road and the A27 in Fontwell, neighbouring another development approved in 2023 for ten bungalows.

The plans will see 30 per cent (or 17) affordable homes, the minimum required by the council, four wheelchair accessible homes and a 220 square metre stand alone community centre.

The community centre will be in the south east corner of the site with an infiltration basin to help drain stormwater in the event of flooding.

The plans state the site is allocated for 40 homes under the 2021 Walberton Neighbourhood Development Plan (WNDP), noting another development south of Arundel Road for 400 homes was approved by the planning inspectorate in 2017 at appeal.

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Developer Harlequin Developments and its planning consultants DHA Planning, state in the plans that the WNDP would not stop more than 40 homes being built on the site, as long as it remains ‘acceptable in terms of density, amenity and providing adequate facilities’.

They said Arun District Council officers had suggested in pre-application discussions that 50 to 60 homes would be ‘appropriate’ for the site.

Access to the site would be taken from an existing mini-roundabout on Arundel Road, with existing tree and hedgerow boundaries along the neighbouring development and the A27, and a public right of way to the west of the site to be retained.

Two objections from Fontwell residents have been submitted to the plans, with concerns of overdevelopment, traffic congestion and increased strain on the town’s services.

One resident said: “Fontwell is becoming a little town with roads that are gridlocked and full of potholes. There are no additional facilities such as schools and the doctors’ surgeries are already unable to cope with the current numbers.”

They added another recently built Fontwell community building ‘has not been used’, calling it a ‘waste of money’.

In the plans DHA said: “The site presents the opportunity to provide a high quality residential development that has carefully considered the site context and wider landscape – with the provision of a community building to meet local needs.”

To view the plans visit https://www.arun.gov.uk/planning-application-search and use the code WA/74/24/OUT.