Loughton slams County Council for sticking two fingers up at Findon Valley residents over Children & Family Centre at Vale School

East Worthing MP Tim Loughton reacted angrily to news that the County Council's planning committee had given permission for a Children & Family Centre in the grounds of the Vale School in Findon Valley. This followed a packed public meeting at the Findon Valley Free Church on Friday which overwhelmingly rejected the plans as ill thought out and in the wrong place. It transpired that little research had been done into alternative locations for the centre such as the Lime Tree Surgery where practice head Dr Mannings attended the meeting confirming the doctor's interest in hosting services at the surgery site. The planning papers had also contained defective evidence about the number of staff who work at the Vale School where residents have for long been complaining about the congestion around the school which would obviously be exacerbated with the additional centre. No traffic studies had been conducted and lots of questions were left unanswered about who would use the new centre, how many and how often. Only 4 people at the meeting expressed any support for building the centre at Vale School out of over 140 present and Vale School head Tony Lovat promised to go back and review the application with his staff and governors.

"This whole application has been a shambles.The County Council have acted with breathtaking incompetence and having been rumbled have now voted themselves permission for this ill-judged project. No consultation has taken place with local residents or ward councillors which is particularly disgraceful given the sensitivities over the existing traffic congestion around the Vale School which can only get worse. The school only want the centre to provide the funds for filling in the swimming pool which local residents dug out for free, and are now having second thoughts. The details in the original planning application have more holes in than a sieve and lots of questions remain unanswered. Virtually no one has come forward in support of the scheme and hundreds are opposing it. The obvious thing was for the Council to withdraw the application until it had carried out more research and done its homework properly as I suggested and most people agreed. Instead the Council has ignored the local council taxpayers; ignored the local elected representatives and acted as judge and jury in voting this proposal through. I for one will not be taking this lying down and will continue to fight with the local residents and councillors."