The civil parish very gently slopes to the east, where it has the public track alongside the River Arun and the land is low but well-drained at 2 to 7 metres above Ordnance Datum (sea level).

The wooden bell-turret, painted white as a navigational landmark for ships, has two bells, the smaller of which was cast by Robert Rider, who is known to have worked 1351 and 1386.

The Government earmarked its airfield site as a proposed core of a new settlement in the sub-regional county plan copied over into the draft South East England Regional Spatial Strategy.

In a public consultation to Arun District Council's core strategy issues and options, as part of the new local development framework, Ford was one of thirteen suggested locations, across the UK, for a new settlement.

Following a significant and vocal local campaign, citing a large number of adverse factors, the government has abandoned plans for a substantial urban settlement here.