Major impact on harbour views

I write in full support of your new campaign to protect Chichester Harbour and wholeheartedly endorse the points made by the chairman of the Chichester Harbour Trust [21 March p.11].

The rapid coalescence of built-up areas in the corridor between Chichester and Havant immediately north of the A259 is having a major impact on the harbour landscape even if, as the

CDC spokesperson rightly points out, no land has been allocated for development within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The border of the AONB was established nearly 50 years ago when there was little awareness of the scale of the pressure on the area today. In places that border comes to within a couple of hundred metres of the water’s edge and barely anywhere between Chichester and Emsworth is the border of the protected area further than three-quarters of a mile from the shoreline.

The beauty of the landscape is heavily dependent on the long vistas towards the South Downs; a ribbon of development will threaten that beauty and the considerable increase in traffic along the A259 as thousands more commuters daily travel its length to escape to the motorway will have a huge impact on the rural nature of the area.

The Harbour Trust and the Conservancy’s call for a much more imaginative approach from our planning authority must be heeded. We will not be forgiven for allowing such degradation of the local landscape. JAMES DAVIS Main Road, Emsworth