Introduction to the GGPT

Members of the Trust include Goring Resident's Association, Ferring Parish Council, and West Sussex County Councillor for the area, Graham Forshaw.

The Trust applied for a small grant from the Government's Millennium Festival Awards panel which it intends to use to promote the aims of the group and get as many local people, including conservationalists and other interest groups, as involved as possible.

Councillor Forshaw said: "We have had a letter from the developers who own the site that they are taking a long-term view of it and intend to hold onto it until they eventually are given permission to build there. At the moment both the county and Worthing Council say there there is no chance of that, but the developer is ready to wait. The site is potentially worth millions of pounds as a development area, but we are hoping to get into negotiations with the owners to see if some sort of agreement can be made. At this stage it is a case of public will, versus developer's finance, and we intend to do everything we can to ensure that this beauty spot is kept as an open space for people to enjoy."

Ted Webb from Goring Resident's Association said the site was of important environmental interest and a vital open space between Goring and Ferring villages. He said: "With the constant threat of more homes for West Sussex, pockets of open space need to be held safe."

A spokesman from Berkshire based Prowtings, which owns most of the land at Goring Gap, said the company had acquired the land with the possibility of future development in mind because of increasing demands for new homes in the south east. She said if permission was ever granted in the future and building went ahead, there would be full consultations with local residents.