Worthing
February 10th, 2022Key Worthing seafront site up for grabs this summer
A key section of Worthing’s seafront is available for rent as a tourism magnet again this summer.Since 2019, the Worthing Observation Wheel (WOW) has stood on Marine Parade between Worthing Seafront Beacon and the Coastal Office at the bottom of Montague Place during the summer months.
More than 50,000 people have taken a trip on the attraction in that time, generating funds for Worthing Borough Council to invest in public services and encouraging visitors to the town.
Now the Council is inviting entertainment businesses to bid for the chance to get in on the action by taking over the site from 1 April.
It could be used as the home for a giant wheel again, a similar style of attraction or something entirely different - it’s up to operators to come forward with ideas for what they’d like to do on the site.
Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Cllr Nicky Waight, said: “The observation wheel has been an eye-catching attraction for the town centre over the last three years. It’s generated income for the Council as well as bringing more feet to the street, helping our many independent shops and businesses to survive and thrive during the pandemic.
“Marine Parade had the WOW factor again last summer and we’re excited to see who might be interested in taking over the site to help draw in the crowds this year.”
Operators interested in taking over the site should visit the Council’s dedicated webpage for more information.
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February 9th, 2022
Roffey Homes confirmed as preferred developer for Union Place
Roffey Homes has been selected to work with Worthing Borough Council to redevelop the derelict Union Place site.The former police station site in Union Place has been derelict for many years. In 2017 and 2018 the Council bought that site and the adjacent NCP car park for almost £9.7 million to push forward the redevelopment of the area. Since then it has been working with Government-owned regeneration specialist LCR Property to develop the site.
Under plans agreed by Adur & Worthing Councils’ Joint Strategic Committee, Roffey Homes will work with Worthing Borough Council to develop that site, the NCP car park and the High Street short-stay car park. They hope to create 63 one-bedroom and 123 two-bedroom homes, at least 37 of which would be classed as affordable and would be offered to people on Worthing’s housing register.
A new ground floor car park with more than 250 spaces would be created as well as commercial units and a potential cinema extension for the Connaught Theatre. The Council would retain the freehold for the site and would split the costs and profits with Roffey Homes.
The committee was told that research showed that there was a potential demand for between three and five extra cinema screens in the town.
An estimated 100,000 trips a year are made by Worthing residents to Chichester, Brighton and other towns for cinema visits - spending £3.5 million in those areas annually that could otherwise be spent in Worthing.
Worthing Borough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Cllr Nicky Waight, said: “These are proposals that will breathe new life into the area. Residents of Worthing want this site developed to improve the area and provide new housing.
“The selection of Roffey Homes means we can now move forward with these ambitious plans to transform this section of the town.”
A planning application for the scheme could be submitted this Autumn. If approved, work could begin as early as Spring 2023.
To watch the discussion by the Joint Strategic Committee, visit https://youtu.be/xs96M_fskZk.
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February 9th, 2022
Councils call on communities to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Adur & Worthing Councils have earmarked nearly £50,000 to help the community and local groups celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in style.Her Majesty will be the first British monarch to reach this milestone, having acceded to the throne at the age of 25 on 6 February 1952, 70 years ago. To recognise the landmark, the Councils are planning a series of events across the region to run in tandem with those being held nationally.
Funding will come out of reserves with £20,000 from Adur District Council and £28,500 from Worthing Borough Council to pay for the community-based festivities that culminate in a four-day bank holiday from 2-5 June.
Cllr Emma Evans, Adur District Council's Executive Member for the Environment, said: “The Jubilee will provide many opportunities for communities, local groups and schools to come together and share bonds, which is particularly important after the difficulties we have all endured during the last two years of the pandemic.
“Events such as street parties will provide neighbours with the opportunity to both recognise and build new friendships.”
Cllr Nicky Waight, Worthing Borough Council's Executive Member for Regeneration, added: “We are very excited about the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and all the events that are planned around it.
“As well as bringing people together, the events will stimulate and support the visitor economy in both Adur and Worthing as we work in partnership with business groups, not to mention some of the projects based around green spaces that can enhance mental and physical wellbeing.”
The Councils’ planned events kick off on 11 March when civic heads from Adur and Worthing will plant an Old English Oak Tree to commemorate the event, with the likely sites being Beach House Park in Worthing and Buckingham Park in Shoreham.
As part of the Queen’s Green Canopy - a nationwide initiative to invite people, community groups and schools to plant trees and establish new woodland areas to enhance local biodiversity - new trees will be planted in Buckingham Park and Worthing’s Brooklands Park.
The Seafront Gallery, off Marine Parade in Worthing, is also set to commission a series of Platinum Jubilee-themed displays over the summer in the lead-up to The Queen’s official birthday on 2 June.
To honour Her Majesty’s birthday there are plans to host a dawn torch-lighting event at Highdown Gardens that could be linked to a lighting of the Beacon later.
There will also be a Jubilee concert and light show in Worthing’s Steyne Gardens with music from the past 70 years of The Queen’s reign on Friday 3 June, while the following day will be a second evening of film and music, including a Jubilee finale.
The final day of the celebrations, on Sunday 5 June, will feature The Big Lunch campaign, which aims to give communities the opportunity to come together to host street parties and celebrate. The Community Street Party application process is open until 15 April.
There are also celebratory events on Worthing promenade and at Adur Recreation Ground, as well as the Shoreham Vintage Fair. The Councils will hang Jubilee bunting and fly the Union flag during the celebrations.
For more information on how to get involved visit https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/queens-platinum-jubilee/.
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January 31st, 2022
Adur and Worthing show their support for Holocaust Memorial Day
Two services took place on 27th January across Adur and Worthing as communities showed their support for Holocaust Memorial Day and equality for all.The Deputy Civic Heads symbolically marked the event as they laid a commemorative wreath and read a statement to remember the millions murdered, as well as making a stand against any prejudice that still exists today.
In Shoreham, the Vice Chairman of Adur District Council, Cllr Ann Bridges, her fellow district councillors and a representative of the St Nicholas’ Church gathered around the Tree of Life in Buckingham Park - planted in 2020 - to help pay respects to those who died during the Holocaust and other genocides.
Cllr Bridges said: “In Warsaw on 19 April 1943, the Jewish inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto actually fought back against the Nazi regime. It is estimated that more than 92,000 people died in the Warsaw Ghetto. It was the largest of the ghettos, where more than 400,000 Jews were crowded into 1.3 square miles of the city with poor sanitation, limited food and cramped conditions.
“It is important that people do not ever forget the Holocaust and what happened then. The Holocaust survivors are proof of the fact that life goes on, but not in the way it was for them, they all had to make new lives. I care deeply because of my own Jewish heritage.”
In Worthing, the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Richard Nowak, and his fellow councillors, the Mayor’s Chaplain and members from the local Jewish Community were joined by students from borough-based Lancing College Preparatory School at the Tree of Life in Beach House Park. Speeches and poems were read by the students, who pledged that genocide must end for good.
Cllr Nowak, said: "This year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day – “One Day” – provides all of us with a call to action: that we come together as one coherent and global voice to say “never again”. On that one future day we will be truly able to claim that the absolute horror that is genocide has been consigned to history.
“Today is the day for all of us to take a moment to reflect on the past and pledge that we will all work towards the “One Day” goal."
Residents who would like to learn more about Holocaust Memorial Day and discover this year’s ‘One Day’ theme can visit the following page: https://www.hmd.org.uk
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