Worthing's Teville Gate: Council To Buy Site After Earlier Regeneration Failures

A large parcel of land in Worthing, once home to a decaying car-park and redundant shopping centre, now demolished, is set to be brought back into borough council hands, after two redevelopment projects never began.

The Teville Gate site is to be purchased by Worthing Borough Council for more than £7.5m.

The local authority said this morning (July 6) it would be followed by its own attempts to kick-start building projects.

Officials intend to search for a development partner, while the land remains in public hands.

For the time being, the council said it plans to use the site for temporary attractions such as Christmas Markets and other outdoor events.

A report to the Council’s Joint Strategic Committee next week (July 13) says the strategic importance of the site to Worthing has prompted officers to ‘go it alone’ to allow full exploration of development opportunities.

Worries had grown that the Teville Gate site could become idle for longer, and be part of a "land banking" effort for "years to come".

After it was decided the site should be redeveloped, a new owner, Mosaic Global Investment Ltd, gained agreement in March 2020 from borough planners to develop 378 homes.

In a plan called "Station Square", they would have been joined by a hotel.

When Mosaic was not able to develop the plans itself or find a buyer, the Council sought a partnership with house builder Vivid Housing Ltd to construct new affordable homes in a joint venture.

Now, said the report, Vivid has pulled out of buying the site.

It added that the economic impact of the pandemic made the deals ‘particularly challenging’.

Officials have recommended the purchase, funded by what the council called "prudent borrowing", of the site by the Council alone.

There would then be a three-year target for finding a developer to purchase the site as the economy recovers and the need for affordable homes continues to grow.

Three years ago the Council demolished the car park, which it held on a long lease, in order to bring impetus to plans but these have now stalled.

Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Cllr Kevin Jenkins (Conservative), said:

"We have been very patient and tried to do everything in our power to help the private sector bring forward plans for Teville, from demolishing the car park to going into partnership with Vivid.

"Now is the time to completely take control ourselves and search for our own partner to develop the site whether that be for housing or a mix of housing, hotel and retail.

"But it must be recognized that any decision must allow a viable scheme to come forward and enable the Council to offset its financial commitment. 

"The easy thing to do would be to sit back and blame the private sector and the current economic situation but we are not going to do that. 

"We are still 100 percent committed to bringing that site back to life, temporarily by using it for outdoor events and longer term for much-needed new homes."

The report recommends the Council give the major projects team permission to negotiate to buy the site with a total budget of £8m.

But Labour members of the council say "major strategic failings" in the Conservative-led administration brought about the stagnation of development at Teville Gate.

Cllr Beccy Cooper, Labour Group leader on Worthing Borough Council, added:

"This latest scheme from the Council looks less strategic and more last ditch panic.

"We will be paying the private sector almost £8 million pounds of public money for Teville Gate, which the Council concedes in its own report we may eventually make a loss on.

"Cllr Jenkins states that the "easy thing to do would be to sit back and blame the private sector" which, ironically, is what he and his Conservative colleagues have been doing with this site for years.

"Worthing is in desperate need of new, smart, strategic development thinking.

"Panic buying Teville Gate at such a high price is more of the same from this tired Conservative administration."

The full report is available here: https://democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/documents/s5479/Item%2021%20-%20Teville%20Gate.pdf