In a similar move the Council brought in the Level 1 leisure area, operated by Sussex-based QED, at the front of Grafton multi-storey car park this year while development proposals are worked through there.

In addition the Council will shortly remove the hoardings from the site and reinstate the north/south pathway that connects the railway station to the town, installing new lighting in the process.

Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Cllr Kevin Jenkins, said, ‘I’m really pleased we made the bold effort to buy Teville Gate ourselves because we are finally, after decades of having to sit by and watch as nothing happened, in control of the destiny of this key site.

‘In the short term we want to bring it back to life with a wide range of leisure activities, open space and community initiatives and are open to suggestions from tendering companies about what this might entail. It would be great to see people using the site for fun and relaxation and would change the atmosphere overnight as it did at Grafton.’

He added that in the longer term the Council was committed to improving the quality of the housing development on the site, with more green space and a better mix of housing types after being unimpressed with the proposals put forward previously by private owners. 

The last proposal to gain planning approval was by previous owners Mosaic Global Investment Ltd for a 378 homes development with a hotel to be called Station Square. 

The purchase of the site, funded by prudent borrowing, was completed last month with the Council now setting 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.

The advert for ‘meanwhile use’ expressions of interests is published at the end of this week. It will be found here: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/estates/