Lancing village centre could end up looking like a wasteland

Not so long ago, Lancing’s Queensway shopping parade had a great deal of money spent on it as part of a scheme that we were told would, quote, ‘Transform the heart of Lancing into a vibrant 21st-century village, a place that is diverse and full of life, with a unique identity and brand that can be experienced virtually as well as physically’.

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I am not sure about the diversity part of the plan but ‘full of life’ it is not.

The family run café is closing, which is not surprising considering that its landlord has, I have just been told, put up the rent by no less than a massive 80 per cent.

If the remaining shops, a branch of Truffles bakery, a barber shop and an ale house, all independent businesses just like the café, get hit with similar rent increases the parade could end up looking like a wasteland, and all the money spent on it will have gone to waste.

Definitely not what Adur and Lancing councils were looking for when they used the words ‘vibrant’ and ‘full of life’.

And that’s not all. The carpet shop nearby has just gone out of business, and the non-food general store opposite Queensway is packing up next month.

Along with our empty Lloyds Bank, our empty Barclays bank and our empty post office the phrase ‘the death of our high streets’ seems to be very apt when looking at Lancing’s North Road shopping area.

Eric Waters

Ingleside Crescent, Lancing

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