Tennis courts will become car park

A green light has been given to turn tennis courts in Beach House Park into a car park.
The tennis courts in Beach House Park will be turned into a car park. Pictures: Google MapsThe tennis courts in Beach House Park will be turned into a car park. Pictures: Google Maps
The tennis courts in Beach House Park will be turned into a car park. Pictures: Google Maps

Councillors at Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve the plans. The three courts, which are currently used as an overspill car park for Worthing Bowls Club, will be formally turned into 69 marked spaces for the public and staff at Worthing Hospital to use.

Concerns were raised by a resident of Madeira Avenue that the loss of the tennis courts could negatively affect the health future of Worthing’s children – but the car parking spaces were only be approved until August 2020.

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Councillor Vicky Vaughan attempted to amend the planning permission to get CCTV cameras and restrict the car park’s opening times from 7am until 11pm – but this was shot down by her fellow councillors.

She said she had put forward the amendment after hearing residents’ concerns and anecdotal evidence from committee chairman Paul Yallop that Worthing Hospital nurses felt unsafe going to their cars at night at another nearby car park.

She said: “We have just had the Grenfell Tower disaster, and I believe in prevention rather than cure. If councillor Yallop has heard that nurses are feeling unsafe, then I say this is a really good opportunity to invest in the safety of the people using it.”

Head of planning James Appleton said that CCTV cameras would require lighting that may create excess light pollution.