Residents fear that plans for a handful of new beach huts will ‘open the floodgates’ for more but some are waiting up to ten years to rent one.
Worthing Borough Council wants to build five new beach huts with the proposals coming before its Planning Committee on Wednesday (22 June).
Plans show four huts along the promenade and another at Marine Crescent.
Two would be sold on for private use and three would be rented out.
A report before the Planning Committee says the waiting list for a beach hut is currently 10 years.
In October 2021, 1,631 people were on the list – more than double the number in 2018 (676) – and the council says the number of enquiries from potential customers has ‘steadily increased’.
The report also says:
“The revenue from the rent of the beach huts will generate additional income that the council can utilise for further investment to the seafront sites.”
But WBC withdrew a number of similar applications last year due to local opposition and the Planning Committee rejected plans for eight more in 2019 as it believed they would ‘affect the prevailing open aspect of the seafront’ and ‘set a precedent’.
The Goring and Ilex Conservation Group is one of the organisations objecting to the plans.
In a letter to the council, the group said:
“There has been a recent history of Worthing [Borough] Council making planning applications for private beach huts in Goring only to receive a large number of objections and for the applications to be withdrawn.
“The Covid-19 situation may have temporarily altered the view of beach huts but we believe that this is a temporary situation and that as foreign travel opens up, the demand will wane.
“Currently it could be argued that, although part of the beach scene, there are already too many beach huts on this part of the Goring seafront which mar the view for walkers and others along this part of the coastal path.
“Elderly people on mobility scooters or wheelchairs or young families with prams and pushchairs are unable to access the beach for this stretch of nearly a mile and the gaps provide the opportunity to enjoy the sea views.
“It would seem that the current proposals are not to meet a need but are in fact to add to the council’s finances.”
The Worthing Society and the Goring Residents Association have also objected to the plans with the latter saying it could ‘open the floodgates’ to further applications.
Planning officers say there is ‘clear evidence’ of demand for more beach huts but acknowledged that sea views should be protected.
The council’s technical services team said it ‘may not be possible’ to protect some of the new huts from coastal flooding and erosion due to their position.
WBC’s Planning Committee will make a decision on the plans on Wednesday (22 June) and more details can be found here: https://democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=1709&x=1
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