Big Worthing Town Centre Revamp Approved

Friday, 6 November 2020 13:08

By Karen Dunn, Local Democracy Reporter

Union Place, Worthing: artist's impression of plans

Plans for a major development in Union Place, in the heart of Worthing, have been given the go-ahead.

At a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (November 4), councillors gave a unanimous thumbs-up to the outline application.

Much of the site has stood empty for years but it will soon be home to 169 homes, an extension to the Connaught Theatre and Cinema, and a 90-bed hotel, as well as commercial floorspace, car parking and green spaces.

Paul High, chairman of the planning committee, said the development would ‘make Worthing an even better place than it is today’.

He added: “We’ve got to support a development on that site. For far too long it’s been a ghost town and it’s not a welcoming sight to people.”

The council acquired the land in 2018 and has been working with government-owned regeneration specialists LCR on the scheme.

A number of changes have been made to the original plan.

As well as reducing the number of homes from 186 to 169, the buildings fronting directly on to Union Place and the High Street have been reduced in height but the tallest residential block reaches 14 storeys at its highest point.

There was some concern from the public about the sheer height of the block.

In a video message to the committee, Haydn Jones described it as ‘monolithic’ and added:

“The recent race to be the tallest coastal town is in danger of spoiling Worthing.”

Susan Belton, chair of the Worthing Society, called the design ‘oppressive’ and said the society had ‘serious concerns about the suitability of the design’.

She asked for the plans to be paused for a complete redesign ‘which Worthing can be justly proud of both now and in the future’.

That was never likely to happen, though, especially as the committee was told there had been 18 versions of the design in the four years of its development.

As an outline application, the committee was only giving its approval to the concept of the plan and any access issues.

The design details will return to them at a later date.

One change they did insist on, though, following an appeal from Martin McCabe (Lib Dem, Tarring), was the inclusion of a Changing Places toilet within the development.

The toilets include a hoist and bench and are designed for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, as well as older people.

For comparison, you can see Union Place before demolition began in 2009, leading to over a decade in which the site stood derelict.