Our ‘special’ town merits only the best

I was particularly disappointed for Nick Wiltshire, who has served the town so well over the last eight years and was deputy mayor.

However, I wish the new council well and sincerely hope the councillors will make a valuable contribution to the needs of this rather special town of Littlehampton.

May I, presumptuously, make a few suggestions:

1, the desperate need for our hospital, keeping a close eye that the site is not used for some other purpose;

2, shelters on the promenade;

3, a bandstand near the beach to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee next year;

4, that the town and district councils continue their support for Littlehampton in Bloom.

I would also ask if it is possible to revisit the £800,000 reduction McCarthy & Stone has been allowed in the infrastructure payment for its nationally advertised development for the “frail elderly” at the junction of Church Street and Fitzalan Road.

Although appreciating that permission was given on appeal by the last government, this enormous building is so out of proportion and scale with any other building in this residential part of the town. Whatever happened to the principle of over-development of a site?

It stands many feet forward of the building line both in Church Street and Fitzalan Road, giving no significant room for gardens or planting to soften the impact of such a large building.

For many months, residents, visitors and services using both exits of St Mary’s Close have suffered extreme danger because of the intense parking on both sides of the road and the continual off-loading of building materials from lorries in the road.

The building is so large that the unloading, like the parking, rarely takes place within the site.

The final ignominy is the increased amount of litter in Church Street, presumably discarded by people from the site.

While so many in this community put in great efforts to make our town a great place to live and visit, this sort of situation is totally unsatisfactory and I think at the very least requires a fair contribution, by way of a small compensation, for this very intrusive, multi-million pound development.

Margaret Boulton

chairman

Littlehampton in Bloom

St Mary’s Close

Littlehampton