Highdown Vineyard may be sold to property developer as plans for 121 homes floated

The owners of the Ferring vineyard, Paul and Aly Englefield, said it had been a ‘difficult decision’ to sell the plot to developer Rego Property.

Aly said: “We are reaching our retirement and have thought long and hard about our future and the future of Highdown Vineyard.

“When we bought this land in 2010 it was surrounded by countryside and we brought together our two passions, wine making and events, to create high quality wines and host charming and individual weddings and celebrations.

“We have explored options for selling the vineyard and initially looked to sell it to wine makers, but found that with the constraints around our land, where businesses have grown up around us, it is simply not large enough to be viable as a vineyard in its own right. Our events have subsidised our passion for wine making, but we have faced a difficult year, as have so many, with the Covid restrictions.

“We have thought long and hard and have carefully elected to sell to developers who we trust to deliver high quality homes on the site. We are confident that they will create much needed new homes with a consideration to the land and to the neighbours that we would want to leave behind us when we retire.

“We would like to reassure all our customers that all wedding and event bookings remain secure and we will not take any further bookings that we cannot honour before we leave.”

A public consultation for 121 residential units, landscaping, parking and improved access briefly appeared on the South Downs National Park planning website, but was swiftly taken down.

The Littlehampton Road vineyard sits on the border of Arun District Council and the South Downs National Park planning jurisdictions.

The Englefields said the project is in an early stage and a planning application is likely to be submitted to Arun District Council later this year.

The final sale of the vineyard to Rego Property is conditional on planning permission being granted, they added.