Plan for 136 Shoreham homes submitted for consideration

Developers have submitted plans to Adur District Council for the former Howard Kent site, in Brighton Road, Shoreham.

Designs submitted with the application can be viewed here.

A public exhibition was held at Southwick Community Centre in Southwick on Friday, January 12, to give residents a chance to find out more about the proposals.

The Shoreham Society has said that residents have ‘very serious concerns’ about the development.

Gerald Rosenberg, chairman of the Shoreham Society, said the ‘overwhelmingly predominant view’ of residents was concern at the ‘excessive height’ of the blocks.

The development would cause ‘major changes’ to the character of the town – ‘making much loved Shoreham a radically different place’, he said.

Mr Rosenberg added that the density of the development meant it would increase pressure on local roads as well as increase air pollution, concluding: “We cannot support these designs as they stand.

“To the people of Shoreham they simply represent too much over development, reaching too great storey heights, with too much pressure on infrastructure.”

At a residents’ meeting at Shoreham Rowing Club held on Thursday, January 4, residents said the development would ruin the area’s ‘charm, character and community’.

Chairman of the Kingston Beach Residents’ Association Andy Harvey said: “The immediate residents were never consulted with and we feel as though the developer is riding roughshod over everything.”

Resident Avril Knight said: “I have been coming here for 30 years and it is my special place and now it is going to be ruined by such an ugly building.

“It is going to cause a lot more traffic which is going to cause pollution and the beach car park will be more congested which may cause problems for our lifeboat men.”

Jess Tigar said: “The development appears to be completely alien to the ten-year plan.

“The council should look after the people they take tax from, surely it should be the end of the story.”

Approached for comment following the meeting, architect Liam Russell defended the plans.

He said direct sunlight would not be affected and that he wanted to do the best design for an area earmarked for housing.

“The development will range from five to ten storeys and will feature a green, breathable wall to absorb pollution,” he said.

“By putting a green wall up and using the highest-quality materials, what is left is better than other alternatives and what we feel is the very best scheme for the area.

“We don’t just make the height up, it is decided on a basis of conditions and will not look back onto the Victorian houses.

“We love what we are doing and have a connection to Shoreham as I used to live there, we feel sorry that people feel we are riding roughshod, in hindsight we should’ve spoken earlier but we just didn’t want to break rank too early.”

The resident’s association has arranged another meeting on Friday, February 2, at which Tim Loughton MP has been invited to give information about planning policy and answer residents’ questions.

The meeting will be held at Shoreham College in Kingston Lane at 7pm.

Anyone who has any questions which they would like to be considered on the night should email them to the residents’ association in advance at [email protected]

To view the proposals for the site in full, go to Adur District Council’s planning portal and search for application AWDM/1979/17.