Sir, – During the last few weeks there has been quite a lot of comments in The Herald regarding the proposed development at Monkton Lane, Weybourne. Almost without exception the emphasis is on the provision of rugby pitches and the mention of a vast leisure complex, which is what the reality of it is, just lingers in the background. My opinion is that this type of tactic is deliberate in attempting to fool the public into what would really come if the proposal is accepted. The emotive card is being played for all its worth. Just a few hundred yards from the proposed development site we already have a Cannons health & leisure centre and a floodlit sports arena. For a place that is considered by many as a village, Weybourne is at present over developed. If this development is given the go-ahead it will destroy a vital part of the character of Weybourne. This field has a value of being an area of natural beauty and it should appreciated that it does not all have to resemble the rolling hills of Cornwall to be so classified. It is also officially recognised as being in the Strategic Gap.
A local businessman running a very small nursery from his garden opposite the proposed site was closed down as his business was deemed "an undesirable introduction of commercial development to the detriment of the character of a sensitive rural area". So how can a 21-acre site as proposed be acceptable?
Weybourne already has far more than its fair share of sporting facilities and not to mention the Farnham Sports Centre just one mile away. The proposed complex may well be desired but Weybourne is most certainly not the suitable place to put it.
Winston Burrows,
Coppice Close,
Weybourne