Councillor: Eton College homes on South Downs unacceptable

Lewes District councillor Rob Banks said a High Court decision to refuse the building of 475 homes on green space in Worthing means plans to build 3,250 on the South Downs should be scrapped also.

The High Court judge said plans to build in Chatsmore Farm, Worthing, known as Goring Gap, failed to consider the impact it would have on the area.

Cllr Banks is arguing the decision sets a clear precedent which should block plans for thousands of home to be built on land in East Chiltington owned by Eton College.

A map showing the proposed site for thousands of homes

“If the High Court was concerned enough about 475 houses and the impact it could have on the setting of the South Downs National Park and the view within, then it sets a clear precedent that at least 3,250 right on the border of the national park is utterly unacceptable,” said Cllr Banks.

“I and others have long argued that the impact on landscape is one of the key factors against the Eton New Town and this must be taken into account.”

Eton College’s plans would see the 500-acre site sold off to make way for thousands of new residents.

Don’t Urbanise The Downs, a protest group set up by furious opponents to the scheme, says 6,000 people would cram into the development.

The group says that the scheme “just doesn’t make sense” on its website.

A gentle stream that runs through much of the proposed site

“A new town on a greenfield site is not supported by local housing needs or existing infrastructure,” it said.

A spokesman for the group said: "The identity and rural character of these communities will be permanently lost.

"With 3,000 new houses in the new town, East Chiltington would grow to 16 times its current number of homes and have more than 3,000 additional buildings crammed in to just 20 per cent of the parish.

"It’s the start of a slippery slope for the hamlet the building site is located in and for the South Downs National Park.”