Revised Worthing care home plans approved

Developers want to knock down two homes on the northern side of Warren Road, just up from Worthing College in Offington, and build an 82-bed facility.

Previous plans to demolish just one of the homes and replace it with a 60-bed care home were rejected by Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee back in 2018.

But the new application was given the nod by committee members last Wednesday (July 21).

There were some concerns about access to the site and traffic, but overall councillors felt the building had been much improved.

Helen Silman (Lab, Heene) said: “Compared to the previous application, which I was not on the planning committee for, it’s clear that the whole building has been pushed deeper into the site because we have got two plots to work in and I think that has made a huge difference to the views from the road, the neighbours and the South Downs. It’s a much, much nicer application and much nicer building.”

Jim Deen (Lab, Central) acknowledge the concerns about traffic, but described the new application as a ‘fine building and a fine addition to that particular part of town’.

In a written statement, HW Planning’s Hamish Watson, speaking on behalf of the applicant Aspire LLP, described how following extensive pre-application advice with council officers they had made improvements to the building’s design and appearance.

The scheme would see the installation of a traffic islands to help pedestrians cross the main road and the junction with the bridleway that runs along the site’s eastern boundary would be improved and resurfaced.

Landscaping would include planting new trees to fill in the gaps at the front of the site.

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