Housing Development on Pagham's Northern Edge

2015-2025

From 2015 onwards, planning applications for housing development on the northern fringe of Pagham generated significant local opposition. Proposals for hundreds of new homes on agricultural land between Pagham and Bognor Regis were contested by residents concerned about traffic congestion, pressure on local services, flooding risk and the loss of the village's rural character. Several applications were approved by Arun District Council despite objections, and construction proceeded on sites that had been open fields within living memory. The development debate exposed tensions between the need for housing and the desire to preserve the distinct identity of a village that was at risk of being absorbed into the wider Bognor Regis conurbation.