Plans to replace Sompting pub with homes given thumbs up

Plans to demolish a pub and replace it with six homes have been approved by Adur District Council.
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The application, for the Joyful Whippet, in Steepdown Road, Sompting, was given the nod at a meeting of the planning committee on Monday (June 7).

Paul Mansfield (Con, Cokeham) said it was ‘a very sad day’ to lose the pub – which he described as ‘the secret location of the Sompting treacle mines’ – but pointed out that it had ‘declined’ over the the last few years.

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While several councillors shared fond memories of the place, there were no planning reasons to turn down the application.

The pub closed in May 2020 and has been standing empty ever since.

It will now make way for a terrace of four four-bedroom houses and two three-bedroom chalet bungalows.

The plans, from Aaliyah Developments, have been with the council in one form or another since 2017, while the applicant worked with officers to come up with something suitable.

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They have been amended since the original submission, which was for a block of six flats and four detached houses.

The council received three letters of objection, with concerns raised such as overdevelopment, the loss of green space and the homes being of an ‘inelegant design’.

One resident spoke passionately at the meeting about the importance of the pub as a place to socialise and unwind – as well as its use as a polling station for the village.

The meeting was also told that a local community group wanted to trigger a moratorium on the sale of the property but, as no community bids were submitted, the sale went ahead.

The new homes will be accessed from Halewick Lane and there will be parking for 12 cars.

To view the application, log on to planning.adur-worthing.gov.uk and search for DM/0998/19.

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