A VIGIL for the “death of demcoracy” is to be held on Saturday October 29 by campaigners fighting to save ancient woodland in Sussex.
The protest is to be staged from 2pm at the junction of Titnore Lane, Durrington, Worthing, and the A259 Littlehampton Road.
The roundabout, near Northbrook College, is just five minutes’ walk from Goring railway station, served by direct trains from Brighton, London and Portsmouth.
In June Tory-run Worthing Borough Council gave outline permission for a 875 home development plus road widening, which will see more than 200 trees felled in one of the last patches of ancient woodland on the coastal plain.
This was despite massive public opposition and years of petition raising, marching and meetings.
On September 4 protesters blocked busy Titnore Lane with a burning effigy of John Prescott, whose department had just refused to call a public inquiry into the highly unpopular scheme, claiming it was not of regional or national significance.
The protest, together with a lively stage occupation at the council meeting where the plans were passed, featured on a recent edition of ITV’s “Tonight With Trevor McDonald”.
Council officers claim work on the site may now start in “early spring” but the campaigners have pledged to fight the bulldozers every inch of the way and are appealing for help from outside Worthing.
POW (Protect Our Woodland)