Please see the below update from our Chairman, Pete Coe:
There has been some conjecture and rumours circulating about the planned development of a plot of land owned by Chris Dixon. The following is the facts, as we know them.
On Thursday last week it was announced by James and James (Estate agents in Goring and Ferring) that they had been contacted by Mr Dixon to say that there will be no further attempts to gain any form of planning from him and he was selling the land as he has “to respect the wishes of many residents out way (sic) the few”.
On Friday we were contacted by James Brock (joint owner of James and James) to say that he was negotiating a 6-month grace period to buy the land as a trust that he would like to be between Ferring Conservation Group & Goring Residents Association, with a crowdfunding campaign led by him & the community. He added that it’s his dream that we secure the land and then put as many easements/covenants on it so that it can only ever be used as a nature reserve.
At our request he has expanded the interest groups to include the Goring and Ilex Conservation Group and the Worthing Society, and we are having an initial chat with James on the 2nd of June to discuss the matter in more detail and identify other potentially interested such as the Sussex Wildlife Trust.
Clearly matters such as the selling price are currently commercial in confidence and the details of fund raising and the legal framework for any Trust need to be worked out and James and James are probably in the best position to lead on this. As ever, the devil will be in the detail. Personally, I see this as potentially a good opportunity for the Communities of Ferring and Goring to again work together to protect our green spaces.
I will update all members with the outcomes of the meeting.