Homes for former Worthing nursery site approved

Developers want to build the units on a piece of vacant land off Walton Close. Glasshouses have already been cleared off the site.

Planning permission was granted by members of Worthing Borough Council’s Planning Committee on Wednesday August 22.

Residents raised concerns about parking and access arrangements to the site, as well as overdevelopment and the effect on neighbouring properties.

But officers explained they had negotiated a raft of changes to the application since it was submitted, including reducing the number of new homes from three to two.

Emma Frost, an objector who lives in Walton Lodge, said: “Our concerns are about right to light, privacy, overlooking and overshadowing, while the proposed property plot one would be overbearing and imposing to us.”

She argued parking would spill out on to Walton Close, while the tight site entrance to the two new homes overlaps with the cul-de-sac’s turning circle.

Pete Marshall, speaking for Dave Francis who lives in Stone Lane to the east, argued the privacy and tranquillity of his property would be affected by the proposals.

Meanwhile Noel Atkins (Con, Salvington), a local member, focused his objections on the tight site entrance. He said: “It’s not an ideal site and therefore for safety reasons I would recommend the application be refused.”

Officers explained the first plot had been moved away from the Walton Lodge properties and were 14 metres from the main part of the new house and 11.5 metres from the garage. Plot two was 22 metres from any overlooking windows, while properties to the south had long gardens.

Hazel Thorpe (LDem, Tarring) said she would like to turn the application down but did not see any sufficient grounds to do so. She explained: “I do feel for the residents. It’s not nice to have this building imposed on you but I can’t see any planning reason to turn it down.”

Jim Deen (Lab, Central) said housing was at a premium in Worthing with empty plots to develop limited in the borough.

He added: “For me this is a development which is in scale with the size of the plot. It has been reduced after work by the officers.”

His request for the developer to consult residents on a construction management plan was accepted, but another amendment to reduce working hours on the site to 9am-5pm Monday to Friday was rejected by his fellow committee members.

The application was then approved unanimously.