The access road threatening Titnore Woods
The march set off promptly at around 2.15pm (too promptly for some latecomers!), following a press photocall and headed up the road from the station forecourt to The Strand, where it turned left through the Maybridge estate. It then turned right up Limbrick Lane, to the junction with Palatine Road, then crossed the Littlehampton Road and headed up Yeoman Road and on through the West Durrington estate to Varey Road, Fulbeck Avenue and the Titnore site. The sun was shining and there were many toots and thumbs-up of support en route.
The positive mood was enhanced by the fact that the police left the protest completely alone. Maybe they have at last got the message that these are invariably peaceful affairs and that local people expressing their opinions on local matters do not need to be treated like hooligans or criminals...
Overall, the message is that the campers and supporters have not been fooled by Worthing and West Sussex councils' half-hearted suggestion that the road straightening "may" not now take place and are continuing to oppose the access road through the woods, which the authorities never mention, and of course the whole environment-wrecking development.
This is how recent developments have been reported in The Porkbolter, Worthing's local radical newsletter:
WHEN Titnore Woods landowner Fitzroy Somerset is forced to admit that a "great victory" has been notched up by campaigners (Argus, September 21), you know that something has gone right. And the announcement from Worthing Borough Council that Titnore Lane in Durrington itself "would not have to" be straightened and 210 trees "should be" spared was certainly a piece of good news.
It is a testament to the amazing efforts that have been put into this unprecedented battle by a huge range of people - the tree campers and their supporters of course, the Worthing Society with its threat of legal action against the council and most of of all the hundreds, if not thousands, of local people who have played their part by writing letters, joining protests, giving donations and generally making it abundantly clear that they are right behind the campers and totally against the development.
However, the fight is clearly not won yet, even though Mr Somerset, the council and the developers would now like everyone to go home so they can get on with the serious business of destroying the countryside in the interests of profit. Even if the news on Titnore Lane is confirmed - and time will tell on that one - there is still a lot to be concerned about and to be struggling against.
The most obvious problem is that even though Titnore Lane may not be straightened, it is still planned to drive an access road from there onto the proposed 875-home housing estate. This would cut right through the heart of the woodland that the tree campers are protecting. Since that is why they set up there in the first place, they see no reason why the council's half-hearted climb-down should make them pack up and make way for the bulldozers.
Said one campaigner: "The access road would damage precious eco-systems and destroy the habitat of various protected species, including newts and dormice. At the end of the day, building roads through woods, and dumping massive housing estates right next to them, amounts to much the same as chopping down the whole woods."
If the council and their developer chums thought that a change of heart over the road straightening would take the steam out of the opposition, they were wrong! All it has done is to show people that the pressure is paying off and that their efforts have not been wasted.
One more push could halt the access road and another couple after that could stop the whole porkin' development!
Camp phone: 0780 4245324.