Works to remove path spark safety concerns in Pagham - ‘They are allowing our village to be smashed to smithereens’

That was the message from a Pagham resident, who is campaigning against housing plans at Summer Lane.

As part of a larger development plan, proposals to build 90 dwellings (P/58/15/OUT) were approved. This will see the single-width section of Summer Lane, between the houses named Fieldview and Meadow Sweet, realigned and widened with a new pavement added to the northern side. This will run from the Pagham Road junction all the way to the most westerly point of the new housing development.

Resident Nigel Rawlins, and his wife Sara, are campaigning against the works, which they claim is unauthorised and began without any form of consultation with residents. 

Nigel said: “They have decided to take away the only pavement available to a number of elderly and disabled people permanently and are proposing to build a new one on the other side of the road.

“They are changing things that can never be changed back. We have elderly and disabled people living in Summer Lane. Some of them have lived there for up to 40 years. 

“These people are in walking sticks, frames and wheelchairs. They are unable to go to and from their houses unless they have a pavement.”

Nigel said the removal of the pavement will put lives at risk, adding: “How can you make a man in a wheelchair come out of his front door, come down a kerb into the road and get across the road to the pavement?

“They are taking massive advantage of everyone round here. The roads are unacceptable to put this amount of housing in.”

Describing the existing footway as ‘narrow and substandard in width’, West Sussex County Council said the proposed highway improvements ‘went through the usual stages’ and there was the opportunity for the public to comment or object.

The county highways department also stressed that letters were sent to residents to inform them of the upcoming works and ‘advanced notice signs were placed prior to them starting’.

A spokesperson for Arun District Council said: “At present, there is no pavement along the northern side of Summer Lane and the narrow pavement on the southern side ends abruptly leaving pedestrians heading west no option but to walk along the lane itself.

“In addition, work has also been approved to realign Summer Lane between the site and the junction with Pagham Road in order to control traffic speeds and improve safety.

“It is proposed that this work will include removing the existing narrow pavement on the southern side as the new pavement on the northern side will provide a continuous footway
along Summer Lane between Pagham Road and the western extent of the new housing development.

“The highway work has been approved by West Sussex County Council’s highways department, but the developers still need to seek approval from the Local Planning Authority, and they have been asked to submit the details to us.”

The district council said ‘it is anticipated that permission will be given’ as the application has ‘already achieved technical approval’ from West Sussex Highways. 

A spokesperson for the county highways department said: “The alterations should result in a standard width and continuous footway on the northern side of the carriageway.  On the southern side, a hard margin is still retained: it is narrower than the existing footway but there will still be a margin between the carriageway edge and the boundary of properties.

“The extent of highway along Summer Lane is such that footways cannot be provided on both sides of the carriageway.  To provide footways on both sides would restrict the carriageway width to single track along its entire length.”

Nigel and Sara claimed that the authorities are using ‘outdated and obsolete’ planning policies to determine applications.

The couple have now set up a petition, in the hope it will ‘prevent an overdevelopment’ of homes in Pagham. Click here to sign the petition