Refused plans to add storey to block of flats would ‘wreck Tarring’

At a meeting of the planning committee on Wednesday (September 23), one even whipped out a pile of Jenga blocks to demonstrate – rather noisily – what he thought of the idea.

The application, to add one storey of nine flats to a three-storey block in Church Road, Tarring, was turned down earlier this year and dismissed by the planning inspectorate when it went to appeal.

It was resubmitted after changes in planning law allowed developers to add up to two floors to flats – with the council given very little scope to refuse.

Martin McCabe demonstrated his points with Jenga

But refuse they did, with Martin McCabe (Lib Dem, Tarring) declaring: “If it’s not refused then we all lose. These proposals would wreck Tarring, they would wreck Worthing and wreck our environment.

“These plans are like playing Jenga with our community. Piece by piece it’s seeking to strip away cornerstones of our town.”

Flinging the blocks aside one by one, Mr McCabe said: “When you strip away all of those cornerstones everything comes crashing down.

“These plans would be a hammer blow for our community.

“It’s a lightning rod for other applications that are going to come in and misrepresent government planning policy.”

James Appleton, head of planning, said the only criteria under which the council could refuse the plans was the design.

Issues such as whether or not the new flats would reflect the character of the area or match the scale of surrounding buildings are no longer relevant under the planning changes.

Chairman Paul High (Con, Heene) said: “If I lived in a top floor flat anywhere in Worthing, I wouldn’t expect some one to come and build on top of me. It’s horrendous.

“To build on top of some one’s home is awful. It shouldn’t happen and we shouldn’t be in this situation.”

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