Saga of 'great wall of Littlehampton' drags on

The latest chapter in the saga of what has become known as the great wall of Littlehampton was played out during a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (February 8).

Councillors were presented with a report which recommended they drop the idea of reducing the height of the wall as the costs to the council could total ‘upwards of £2.5m’.

But officers were told that, given they had received no response from companies approached with a brief of the work required, the figures were little more than a ‘finger in the wind’.

One of those figures estimated that removing the top two panels along the wall and cutting back the supports would cost far more than £1m.

But Dr James Walsh (Lib Dem, Littlehampton East) said he had been approached by a contractor who thought he could do the work for £100,000 to £150,000.

Dr Walsh said that, without getting firm cost estimates, the planning committee was being ‘bounced into making a decision’.

The 3.5m weathered steel wall was built to mitigate noise from the new Fitzalan Link Road, which joins the Lyminster bypass at the A259.

It runs behind garden fences and is visible to residents of Highdown Drive and Amberley Close.

When planning permission was given for the new road back in 2012 the barrier had to be built as a condition.

But Dr Walsh said he thought the advice given to the planning committee at the time had been wrong and had been based on a much higher traffic density and much higher speeds.

He added: “This is a 30-40mph road, not a motorway.”

Ricky Bower (Con, East Preston) agreed that the problem stemmed from ‘poor advice’ and wondered where the council stood when it came to making a claim against the original contractor.

David Chace (Con, Brookfield) stressed the need for accurate quotes rather than ‘guess-timates’, adding: “To make any firm decision we need factual information in front of us.

“I would also like another consultation with the residents so we can judge opinion on it now.”

But there was a warning from Neil Crowther, the council’s head of planning, that the cost of the actual work was only one part of the package – a budget upwards of £1m needed to be included to cover possible compensation claims.

Those claims currently fall in the laps of the county council and developer Persimmon.

But Mr Crowther told the meeting that any work carried out on the wall by Arun would shift liability to the district council.

He also insisted that the cost figures presented to the committee did have ‘some basis and some reasonableness’.

The committee agreed to defer any decision for three months to allow officers to dig up more factual information on the work required and get a better handle on the costs involved.

Speaking after the meeting, Dr Walsh said “I seriously hope that there will be an outbreak of common sense, and that Arun can persuade both county council and Persimmon to get round a table and find a quick, effective way of reducing the height.”