Fresh calls to remove 'awful' fences around Felpham beach huts

Residents and councillors calling for railings at the Felpham beach huts to be removed

The railings were put up in April by Arun District Council to protect the Greensward in front of the beach huts from dog fouling, but residents and councillors say they were not consulted.

The issue was raised at an Arun council meeting last Wednesday where Lynne Jones asked for the fences to be taken down and said it made the area look like it was private land.

A group of Felpham residents and councillors braved Tuesday’s vile weather to press for the fences to be removed.

Dave Smart, chairman of Felpham Parish Council, said they had received a deluge of complaints from residents, adding: "We are really disappointed that Arun have seen fit to erect these railings without consulting or talking to anybody. They never made any approach to us whatsoever. The first we heard about it was when we saw them being erected on site."

He described the fences as 'just awful' and an 'eyesore' that spoils the view from the memorial benches.

Despite signs the fences are confusing for some visitors who now assume the Greensward is private land.

Cllr Smart called for a meeting with Arun officers to find an acceptable solution. He said: "Let's sit down and talk about what alternatives and ideas we can come up with and see how we go with it."

Describing the fences as ‘just awful’, he added: “The overwhelming message has to be to get rid of them."

He suggested the fences had simply moved dog fouling problems to other parts of the seafront and raised safety and access concerns for people with limited mobility.

Paul English, who represents Felpham East at Arun, has submitted requests for information to find out how and why the decision was made to install the fences.

He described how there is currently no public documentation available to explain how the decision was reached.

Councillor Mary Harvey demonstrating the difficulty that some would have negotiating the gate to the fenced off area

He also raised concerns about the ability of wheelchair users to get into the site as well as small children who might not be able to safely use the gate.

Cllr English also questioned the figures used around dog fouling to justify the more than £8,000 spent on installing the fences.

He said: "Is this a precedent where they are going to fence off more areas of open space?"

He added: "Residents of Felpham are overwhelmingly against it. They should have saved that money and placed it elsewhere."