Funding blow as £4.85m town centre revamp bid fails

Arun District Council unveiled plans to improve public spaces, including new paving and landscaping, last year.

Crucially, the scheme relied on external funding – and Arun hoped the funds would be secured from the Government’s Coastal Communities Fund.

A list of successful bids was released yesterday (Monday, April 4) but Arun’s bid was not included.

Leader Gill Brown said: “We put forward an excellent scheme that would have transformed the town centre but unfortunately we weren’t successful on this occasion, which is disappointing.

“We are hopeful that there will be a further round five Coastal Communities Fund in the future that we can reapply for.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government received 53 applications for a total of £81million. Just £40million was up for grabs.

The council will be exploring alternative external funding streams in due course, a spokesman said.

Independent Littlehampton town councillor Derrick Chester has submitted a number of questions ahead of Monday’s cabinet meeting on Monday.

He will ask: “What lessons will be learned in terms of how the bid was put together, in particular on linking it to jobs and economic growth, the amount asked for, linking it to drawing in funding from elsewhere and linking it to the regeneration of key sites such as St Martins and ex Waitrose?”

The town centre proposals were drawn up by LDA Design, which masterminded the award-winning East Bank regeneration project.

LDA Design also revealed concept drawings for revamping the seafront last month. The scheme is also unfunded.

Click here to view the seafront designs.

Click here to view the rejected town centre plans.