Activities co-ordinator at Rotherlea care home Ian-James Delves has asked town councillors to support their plea for the land to be given to the community.

He said the orchard would be an extension of the allotment project already running at the home in which primary school children and elderly residents shared gardens and worked together to produce vegetables.

"We want to get the whole community involved in the orchard, and help with apple growing and hold traditional community events like apple bobbing and teach the children about conservation," he said.

Now the home and school are joining forces with the Isolation Action Group which is managed by Action in Rural Sussex (AIRS) in the hope of setting up the orchard

Mr Delves said there was an L-shaped piece of overgrown land between the school and the home which used to be a playing field for Herbert Shiner School.

He appreciated the desperate need for affordable housing in Petworth and the fact land around the care home was designated for homes, but only a small part was needed.

"We are campaigning for the area to be donated as a community orchard and nature area with a path for the children to visit the home without having to walk along the roads."

He said he had secured funding for eight apple trees for the community orchard and the probationary service had offered to help clear the area and restore the pond.

Mr Delves told councillors the pond and landscaping of the area had originally been funded by Lord Egremont as an area to be set aside and preserved for the school children to use.

"We are desperately trying to drum up support to keep the land," he told town councillors. "Please don't let building take place on that particular piece of land.

"We need your help in preserving the land."

Mr Delves has also written to Lord Egremont asking for his support in preserving the land.

Chairman of the town council's planning committee Neville Fox told Mr Delves the land was owned by West Sussex County Council and had been the subject of a planning application for houses, but it was dependent of a new road being built into the former Herbert Shiner school.

"Therefore nothing has yet proceeded," he said.

County councillor Chris Duncton told Mr Delves the planning consent expired in October. He said he had asked planning officers to visit him to discuss the orchard plans.

Matthew Spriggs said he hoped the town council would support the plans.

"This is just the sort of thing this council should support," he said.


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