South Downs campaigners are worried the South East Plan will blight one of the country’s finest landscapes.

The consultation period for objections to the plan ended on Friday. Ruth Lumley reports.

Campaigners wanting to save the South Downs from over-development have called the South East Plan a recipe for environmental destruction.

Higher levels of housing forced on the region as part of the plan could damage the countryside, say members of the South Downs Campaign (SDC).

Not only are they are worried about the amount of housing proposed but also what will come with it – a range of vital amenities including new roads and transport interchanges which they believe will damage the environment.

Towns and villages they believe would be badly affected by new or improved roads include Arundel, Worthing and Wilmington, near Eastbourne.

The SDC is concerned new or improved roads would damage each place’s setting, harming important views of the Downs while bringing more traffic and increasing noise and air pollution.

But in the long term, traffic on the A23 south of Hickstead and all the way along the A27 to Polegate could lead to these already congested roads becoming so busy that they would be unable to cope with the demand.

If calls are made to widen the roads because of this it could lead to larger, intrusive junctions, causing landscape damage and loss of tranquillity.

The SDC is also objecting to the Government’s sustainability appraisal, meant to flag up areas of potential damage and conflict the plans could cause if they were approved.

The added pressure on greenfield sites a few years after the plan has come into effect could harm protected landscapes including the South Downs.

People living in the new houses will need to be provided for, which could see the development of new roads, park and ride, wind energy, new power lines to serve the increasing population and new reservoirs to supply them with water.

Campaigners believe the amount of development which is planned for the area is likely to cause far more harm than the loss of greenfield sites themselves.

The Shoreham Cement Works at Upper Beeding is also giving the SDC cause for concern because it lies in the narrowest part of the Sussex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty and South Downs National Park and much of it is in a chalk quarry.

Robin Crane, the chairman of the South Downs Campaign, said: “It is rather ironic that despite the Government’s apparent commitment to create a South Downs national park it also appears ready to approve a plan that could cause significant long term damage to one of the nation’s finest landscapes.

“It is quite clear from the Secretary of State’s proposed changes that there is a failure properly to value and understand the importance of places such as the South Downs and their vulnerability to the levels of development being proposed.

“The South East Plan is a recipe for environmental destruction.”

The SDC has written to the Secretary of State saying the plan will result in the downgrading of the natural environment rather than protecting and enhancing it.

It has objected to the increase in housing, saying in some cases it approaches or exceeds environmental limits and threatens the future national park.

And it argues the plan has not recognised environmental assets in East and West Sussex, including the national park, the Chichester Harbour area of outstanding natural beauty and international wildlife designations.

Mr Crane said: “While the plan is full of fine words about the environment in parts, these are little more than greenwash.

“It has no real plan for properly safeguarding the region’s high quality environment, let alone finding ways to repair the wanton destruction and incremental damage that has been allowed to happen over the years.

“There is overwhelming public support for the South Downs to become a national park which would give it the highest possible protection.

“The Government must take note of this and create a South East Plan that is truly sustainable and properly protects and enhances this much loved and highly cherished landscape.”

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