Walkers stand in the way of a new multi-million pound road through Felpham

Protests from the ramblers and residents to the diversion of two footpaths will now be heard by the government.

Defra '“ the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs '“ will have to hold a footpath inquiry into the objections.

It is not known when this will take place.

The inquiry will rule whether the protestors are justified in opposing a change in the routes of footpaths 154 and 2988 to allow the Bognor Regis relief road to be built.

Councillors have decided Arun District Council's planning solicitor, Delwyn Jones, should prepare information packs about the diversions to be sent to Defra.

He said: "The footpaths go straight through the site six development and over the embankment of the Bognor relief road.

"The proposals are for sensible diversions which will preserve the footpaths so people can still walk along them, but along routes which are changed.

"The diversions are a compromise which will enable people to access the development and the countryside."

It has been a decade since the relief road was suggested to connect the Felpham and North Bersted sections of the A259 by bypassing the town centre.

But work has yet to take place. It took years for the developers to secure all the agreements needed for the road and the related 1,350 home developments in Felpham and North Bersted to go ahead.

The recession, though, hit just as the permissions were in place. The developers can only build the homes in tandem with the road, said to cost 16.5m a few years ago, in line with a strict timetable set by the council.

But the development in Felpham crosses the paths of the two long-established footpaths. Part of footpath 154 crosses the proposed site of football and sports pitches.

Four objections have been formally made to Arun about the proposals.

They have come from the local branch of the Ramblers' Association as well as representatives of the landowners.

The ramblers fear for the safety of walkers on the diverted footpath as they cross the relief road.

The landowners are concerned about the impact the proposed route will have on agriculture and the potential conflict between farming and walkers.

A section of the relief road and its embankments, bunds and noise barriers passes over footpath 2988.

Six objections have been made about this proposed change. The Ramblers' Association and the landowners are again among them. Safety concerns about crossing the relief road, the risk of walkers conflicting with farming and the effect of making the footpath longer and less convenient are some of the issues raised.

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