History

Ham Residents Group was formed to safeguard the homes and landscape of the hamlet which is situated on the western edge of the Manhood Peninsula. The Residents Group was formed at the time of the publication of the "Planning for the Future" document, produced by the Environment Agency in partnership with Chichester and Arun District Councils. This document raised many concerns among residents as to whether Ham would survive or be allowed to be inundated by the sea, crucially with no compensation to be offered to homeowners.

Update January 2010

The situation at present (early 2010) is that three farms around Ham have been purchased by the Environment Agency with the purpose of creating a Managed Realignment Scheme. The goal of this scheme is to protect the infrastucture servicing the town of Selsey (road, water treatment plant etc), protect the properties at Ham and create wetland habitat to be managed by the RSPB. To this end a system of bunds or banks has been outlined and will go forward for planning approval in August 2010.

Ham residents have a representative on MStag (Medmerry Managed Realignment Stakeholder Advisory Group) that has been in consultation with the Environment Agency during the various stages of the process so far. Latterly discussions on footpaths, cyclepaths and emergency access have been keenly debated.

Due to the many hours of work and thought by the Ham Resident's representative and guiding activist, Dee Caldwell, the mood is now much more optimistic in Ham. From the gloomy outlook of losing our homes and all the emotional and financial despair that would result, there is a future, albeit much changed from it's current status as a rural hamlet in the middle of arable farmland to one surrounded by protective banks and intertidal habitat.