Moving On
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:40:00 BST
December 2007 marked the first anniversary of the approved Masterplan, for Worthing Town Centre and Seafront by Worthing Borough Council and much has been happening since then to move the Masterplan into a new phase of delivery. Over the year a number of projects have come to fruition with many more in the pipeline.
Cabinet noted progress on a number of projects at their March meeting which included the Public Art at Splash Point called ‘Suncloud’; the Mosaic in Montague Street, led by the Town Centre Initiative; welcome banners planned for Worthing Station and the semi-permanent decking installed outside the Splash Point Café.
They also supported the development of an internal framework for granting concessions and the extension of the Public Art Strategy to cover the whole Masterplan area.
In March 2007 consultants EDAW and DTZ were appointed to take forward the following pieces of work and report back to the Council on the options:
- Public Realm Strategy - EDAW
- Seafront Strategy - EDAW
- Retail Core Development Brief - DTZ
- Cultural & Civic Hub Options Report - DTZ
Cabinet considered these reports on 10th March and agreed to redevelopment of Guildbourne Centre as part of the retail core, to approve the main principles of the strategy including a six month trial of shared use of the Promenade (between the western gateway and the active beach zone) for pedestrians and leisure cyclists as part of the Public Realm Strategy and Seafront Strategy. However for the Cultural and Civic Hub, it was agreed to holdover the options put forward for the time being.
The options put forward by the consultants were consistent with the publics view when last consulted in September 2007 when the majority of responses supported the comprehensive redevelopment option for the Retail Core, and shared use of the Promenade for pedestrians and cyclists.
The next stage is for these three documents to be included in the Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF), after which further public consultation will take place to make sure the public are involved in each step taken. The Retail Core development is a concept and it will be many years before any physical changes take place.
Deputy Council Leader, Ann Barlow, said:
“We are really pleased with all the input from residents, and we encourage you to continue voicing your views as we go forwards together and shape Worthing into a town for everyone.”