RESIDENTS of a Fernhurst housing estate claim they have not been consulted about plans to demolish their homes as part of a regeneration scheme.
Plans to regenerate the Nappers Wood estate were announced by Chichester District Community Housing (CDCH) when it purchased the housing from Chichester District Council in March last year.
The not-for-profit organisation said that it would carry out consultation with all the residents to find out what improvements they would like to see.
But residents Joy and George Sennett claim that although CDCH originally said the work would involve refurbishment of the properties, it has now produced plans to demolish the one-bedroom bungalows and build houses with two and three bedrooms in their place.
Mrs Sennett told The Herald: "We have been told that we can give our comments but we are not able to vote on any decisions. We were happy for our bungalow to be refurbished but we do not want it to be demolished and we do not want to live in a house with more bedrooms."
Mr Sennett added that he was concerned that rents and council tax would increase if the bungalows' residents were moved into larger houses, and that there may be less privacy for residents in the proposed terrace-style homes.
A meeting to show the plans to the public was held in the village last month. Chichester-based architects, Harding, Neill and Watson, displayed their plans for the regeneration project and senior partner Ken Harding was at the exhibition to hear residents' views.
Mr and Mrs Sennett have seen copies of the plans for the estate, but said they were very concerned that less active residents who were unable to attend the event have also been unable to get to other public meetings about the proposals.
"I know of about six elderly people from the area who are housebound or less active and cannot make it to the meetings. Nobody has been round to see them and they have been left completely in the dark about these plans to demolish their bungalows," said Mr Sennett.
Mrs Sennett said that she felt residents should be reassured about the progress of the scheme.
"I have seen these plans to demolish the housing but it has not been clear to us what arrangements are being planned to house people while the work is being completed," she said.
A spokesman for CDCH told The Herald that plans for the estate were not "set in stone" and the possibility of refurbishment instead of demolition was not out of the question.
"CDCH has very high standards; by European ruling they are higher than any private builder's, so any work carried out at the estate will meet these standards.
"The plans are only in their draft stage and there will be an ongoing consultation with residents. Newsletters have been sent to the tenants and house-owners and residents are always welcome to phone us with any queries."