Plans Redrawn For Worthing's Union Place Development

Redevelopment plans for a large vacant plot of land in the heart of Worthing have been significantly redrawn.

Worthing Borough Council is working with Roffey Homes on a joint venture for Union Place, with the current proposal for 217 homes, including six live/work units, a pocket park with the potential for a community cafe alongside communal gardens.

The development would also see 22 per cent affordable housing, 5,000sqm of commercial space and a ground floor car park for residents partially covered by floors above. Construction is expected to start by 2024 once planning permission is obtained.

It is part of a proposed Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), or Joint Venture agreement, devised last year between housing developer Roffey Homes Ltd and Worthing Borough Council, that would see each partner receive half of the profits of the development.

The long dormant site saw plans for council development with a different joint venture in 2016 with then owners of Union Place, Change Real Estate, but they were never officially submitted – with the council purchasing the NCP car park and former police station sites for £9.7 million, in 2017-18.

The latest plans for the site would see four to five storey villa-style blocks facing Union Place and the High Street, with the eight and eleven storey housing residential blocks behind them in the middle of the site.

Union Place redevelopment - community gardens design

The blocks facing the High Street will include commercial space, with shared garden spaces sitting above the car park, and occupying the areas between housing blocks.

The progress of the scheme was discussed by the council’s joint strategic committee on Tuesday July 11 and the update will go before all councillors tomorrow (Tuesday July 18).

Martin Randall, the council’s director of place, described it as an ‘ambitious development’ and also felt it showed the council was an ‘ambitious developer’.

The council will have to contribute £300,000 in collateral for the planning application to be submitted by Roffey Homes should it not succeed, and a further £6 million in land as collateral for a 50 per cent share in the LLP.

According to a report by Mr Randall, a 50 per cent share is forecast to gain the council £6 million from sales associated with the development, £5.4 million of which is to be used to pay off debt accumulated from the NCP car park purchase. 

The report also forecasts an annual revenue loss of £28,170 excluding potential business rates which are expected to offset this loss.

An additional £100,000 is estimated to be needed to set up the LLP by December this year, mostly in legal fees, and the council will fund half of the administrative costs for the LLP, £15,000 a year for four years.

Roffey Homes put out a statement asking for community feedback on the development, saying that it wanted the input of Worthing residents whilst drawing up a planning application due to be submitted by September.

They said:

“Following the public consultation held in November last year, subsequent changes have been made to the scheme to respond to feedback provided by the public, council officers, and technical consultants.

“We are therefore seeking the views of the community once more, including people who live and work in the local area, prior to finalising the scheme.”

To view plans for the development and submit feedback on them visit https://eceplanning.com/union-place-second-online-consultation/.