Retirement homes in Southwater approved

The application from Churchill Retirement Living, to develop land at Roundstone Park, Worthing Road, was given the nod during a meeting of the planning committee on Tuesday (June 6).

The committee deferred the plans in April so that options such as double yellow lines, a pedestrian crossing or traffic island could be considered to make crossing Worthing Road safer – especially as there is a bus stop opposite the site.

Members also asked for more visitor and disabled spaces to be considered.

There was disappointment all round when the committee was told that West Sussex Highways had agreed with the developer that the road was too narrow for a traffic island.

And, while the number of parking spaces was increased from 25 to 28, there were still concerns that it was not enough – and further concerns that people would choose to park along Worthing Road.

Concerns about the safety of pedestrians prompted a call from Liz Kitchen (Con, Colgate & Rusper) to ‘really push’ for the double-yellows and ‘not to wait for an accident before it happens’.

While approving the application, the committee added to the planning conditions the requirement for a survey be carried out once people had moved in, to find out if double-yellow lines were needed.

They also asked for a revised parking plan with more space for visitors’ cars and for a specification that 44 trees would be planted inside the development and another 33 elsewhere in the parish.

To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for DC/22/0096.