The article quotes David Johnson, chair of CPRE Sussex:

'If common sense suggests that we have problems with flooding, why are we considering putting 600 new homes and IKEA on New Monks Farm - is this going to make it better?'

Bill Freeman, chair of Adur Floodwatch and a member of CPRE Sussex, highlights the problem of surface water that the development will cause:

'What flooding does to people's lives is quite appalling – this is quite a serious issue we are talking about here.'

Mr Johnson said: "People find it very difficult to process – it is an increasingly ageing population and we have to ask how these developments in the plan support local needs."

He also raised concerns over the cost of the new homes. "This Adur Local Plan process is not really a plan for local needsi he said. "It is a housing gain for developers that does not provide housing for local people.'

Mr Freeman raised concerns over the different types of flooding. He said developments like New Monks Farm, despite the Adur Tidal Walls flood defense scheme, will still create a problem to existing properties in the area.

He said: 'The influences are groundwater, surface water, water that runs off the South Downs and tidal effects from the south coast and the River Adur.'

Mr Freeman, who is also a member of CPRE, said he was 'very pleased to have been invited to the inquiry.

He said: ";t gave us, for once, a level playing field and was a chance to voice community concerns and put some reality back in the plan.'

Mr Freeman highlighted New Monks Farm and drainage concerns in the inquiry and said some form of flood risk assessment to a reasonable level is still yet required for New Monks Farm before its inclusion in the Adur Local Plan.