‘Agricultural land should not be used for housebuilding’
A West Sussex grandfather-of-six has set up a petition calling for a ban on development on agricultural land nationally.
Clive Fennell said prime agricultural land ‘cannot be replaced’, so everyone in ‘every corner of the country’ needs to help to ‘save our countryside and food production’.
He said: “Help our farmers by saving jobs and most importantly, retain our self sufficiency and make us self dependent.”
So far, the petition has been signed by more than 2,500 people.
Mr Fennell, from Littlehampton added: “If I can get to 10,000, a minister has got to respond.
“My aim is to get to 100,000, as then the government has then got to have a debate in Parliament. I have got six months to do it.”
Mr Fennell said the majority of people who have signed so far are based in the Littlehampton, Arundel, Goring, Angmering and Pagham areas.
“It works out as one in 200 people have signed in the constituency,” he said.
“It’s only been up a few weeks and only shared on Facebook.
“When you build on these fields, you cannot take the houses away and get the soil back.
“It’s also about food sustainability.
“Ford Airfield is a prime example as it’s a brownfield site. It’s always farmed and well looked after.
“It is about the younger generation. It’s just devastating and it’s their futures.
“We might be alright but where are they going to be?
“It’s crucial. When farmland is gone, it’s gone forever.”
Mr Fennell’s petition comes amid the West Sussex Gazette – and its sister titles across the county under the banner of SussexWorld – campaigning for action on unrealistic housing figures.
The campaign, which has been running in the Gazette since the end of last year, followed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party Conference speech back in October.
In his speech, Mr Johnson noted the need for new homes but crucially: “Not on green fields, not just jammed in the South East but beautiful homes on brownfield sites in places where homes make sense.”
Back in March, our campaign comment called for change.
It stated: “We believe our councils need greater powers to determine their own housing needs and annual targets, free from the influence of centralised calculations.
“We also feel our greenfield sites need stronger protection than national policies currently provide.
“There are no easy solutions – but today we hope to open the dialogue and urge those in power on a national level to hear our plea.”
■ To find Mr Fennell’s petition online, visit petition.parliament.uk/ petitions/611113
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