Stuart Meier, Director of CPRE Sussex, said: " We and many others have campaigned hard against the Ford proposal, and we are delighted that the Government has at last seen sense on the unsuitability of the Ford site for mass housing.

CPRE has always supported the concept of greener, more eco-friendly developments and supports many of the sustainability principles in the new policy statement. Indeed, we'd like to see all new developments being to such high standards. But Ford was always the wrong proposal, on the wrong site, in the wrong place. An ecotown at Ford would have damaged regeneration in neighbouring towns, where development is needed.

Ford isn't just a greenfield site - it has some of the finest agricultural land in the country, officially recognized as of Grade 1 status. Land of this quality must be used for food, not concreted over.

With the South Downs National Park coming into being, the land beside the Arun estuary provides a vital 'green link' from the Downs to the sea, which an ecotown would have obliterated. This green link is a recognised 'strategic gap', which the government report has finally acknowledged.

In the first round of consultation CPRE Sussex pointed out the site is prone to serious flooding, and we are pleased this too has finally been recognised by the government."

Stuart Meier concluded:

"CPRE believes it is essential that eco-town plans are brought forward and properly assessed through the normal development planning process. This has been a contentious and fundamental issue all the way through the Government's lengthy consultations on the eco-towns. At last the government seem to have accepted that development must not be allowed to short-circuit established democratic systems."