IMAGE CREDIT: Westham Village Conservation Group: Health, Heritage and Wildlife Guided Walk, Sunday 24 April 2016
A keynote meeting organised by Westham Village Conservation Group looks set to give residents an opportunity to look at plans for the development of 350 new homes in the locality in more detail.—Bay Life, 6 September 2016
A meeting at Westham Village Hall on Wednesday (September 7) will give residents an opportunity to look at plans for the development of 350 new homes
Talking to Bay Life (4 September), one of the organisers, Nick Daines told us, “we’ve delivered an invitation to Wednesday’s meeting through every letter box in Westham”. The Group says that “this will be a chance to look at the plans in more detail and to discuss them with Westham Village Conservation Group members”.
In a statement issued to Bay Life on 4 September the group says, “On 22 June Wealden held a meeting with Westham Parish Council to brief them on their new local plan and the ramifications for the village.
“Wealden also posed five questions that the council declined to answer and told Wealden that they would respond later.
“The Westham Village Consultation Group volunteered to hold the consultation for those living in Westham. There is a meeting at the village hall on Wednesday at 7.30 where the villagers will be briefed on Wealden’s proposals and their thoughts on the five questions sought.
The group says that, “the aims of the Westham Village Conservation Group are to stimulate public interest in the history, character and beauty of Westham and also act as a forum for canvassing villagers’ views relating to issues affecting the village.
“Where appropriate”, they state in their foundation document, they will “resist plans for unsuitable developments in the village & its immediate surroundings”.
The foundation document that launched the group in 2014 offered a strength of vision about the need to protect the unique historic identity of the village. They argued “Westham is a beautiful and historic village, comprising a number of listed buildings and the first church in England – St.Mary’s – to be built by the Normans, circa 1080.
“It also features a wonderful ancient country lane – Peelings Lane – which links the village centre to the nearby village of Stone Cross and is part of the E9 link between the South Downs Way and the 1066 Walk enjoyed by walkers, horse riders and cyclists.
“But, like many English villages, its rural character is under threat from the effects of large housing developments in the surrounding countryside. That is why the decision was taken in 2014 by a few local residents to form a conservation group”.
