ECO-CAMPAIGNERS in Sussex have called for a council meeting on controversial housing plans to be stopped - and for supporters to turn out in force at 1.30pm on Monday March 15.
A protest camp has occupied Titnore Woods since 2006 to try and halt the 875-home estate proposed for this ancient woodland and green fields.
It is feared that eviction will follows shortly if permission is given at Monday's meeting, rescheduled for an afternoon slot in an apparent attempt to stop residents attending and making their views known.
The Argus, the Brighton daily paper, has carried a report saying police are expecting trouble at the event and they recently raided the protest camp in a further escalation of their longstanding hostility to the radical environmentalists.
This is the latest from campaigners:
WORTHING council does not need to allow the Titnore Woods development in order to meet its housing quotas.That is the sensational verdict delivered by the government inspector appointed to conduct the 'Examination in Public' into WBCs Core Strategy (CS).
Commenting on the proposals for the massive housing estate at West Durrington, he said this week: "The CS will need to set out clearly why this greenfield site needs to be released when the Borough has historically built more houses than is required and where there appears to be a large supply of brownfield sites."
The statement throws into disarray the plans for West Durrington, recommended for approval by council planners at a meeting at the Assembly Hall on Monday (March 15).
There are now strong calls for the decision to be put off until after the Examination in Public and the decision on whether to approve the Core Strategy.
Said Worthing eco-campaigner Dave Phillips: "All along the council has insisted it had no choice but to allow our precious woodland to be destroyed, because of housing quotas imposed by the government.
"Now we know that this is not true, and the government's own inspector says there are plenty of brownfield sites, at least 900 in fact, to accommodate new housing.
"There is no way the council can push ahead with making a decision with their whole strategy hanging in the balance.
"We call on them to postpone the West Durrington decision immediately and we also call on the people of Worthing to attend the meeting from 1.30pm on Monday and ensure the council do not go ahead until all the facts about this disastrous and hugely unpopular project have been fully assessed. This meeting must be stopped!"
It is feared that eviction will follows shortly if permission is given at Monday's meeting, rescheduled for an afternoon slot in an apparent attempt to stop residents attending and making their views known.
The Argus, the Brighton daily paper, has carried a report saying police are expecting trouble at the event and they recently raided the protest camp in a further escalation of their longstanding hostility to the radical environmentalists.
This is the latest from campaigners:
WORTHING council does not need to allow the Titnore Woods development in order to meet its housing quotas.That is the sensational verdict delivered by the government inspector appointed to conduct the 'Examination in Public' into WBCs Core Strategy (CS).
Commenting on the proposals for the massive housing estate at West Durrington, he said this week: "The CS will need to set out clearly why this greenfield site needs to be released when the Borough has historically built more houses than is required and where there appears to be a large supply of brownfield sites."
The statement throws into disarray the plans for West Durrington, recommended for approval by council planners at a meeting at the Assembly Hall on Monday (March 15).
There are now strong calls for the decision to be put off until after the Examination in Public and the decision on whether to approve the Core Strategy.
Said Worthing eco-campaigner Dave Phillips: "All along the council has insisted it had no choice but to allow our precious woodland to be destroyed, because of housing quotas imposed by the government.
"Now we know that this is not true, and the government's own inspector says there are plenty of brownfield sites, at least 900 in fact, to accommodate new housing.
"There is no way the council can push ahead with making a decision with their whole strategy hanging in the balance.
"We call on them to postpone the West Durrington decision immediately and we also call on the people of Worthing to attend the meeting from 1.30pm on Monday and ensure the council do not go ahead until all the facts about this disastrous and hugely unpopular project have been fully assessed. This meeting must be stopped!"
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