This community centre's work would be ruined if the county's ill-thought out idea is allowed to become reality.

A vital raft of the centre's activities would have to be ditched to make way for the education of what many people fear are the "most unruly and aggressive" of the county's excluded school children.

Claims about the behavioural nature of such students are open to argument, but this issue cannot be the main objection to moving the unit to the former school buildings in Sussex Road.

Over the last decade, the centre has built up a wealth of facilities which can be enjoyed by all, on a day and evening basis.

I have enjoyed the occasional game of snooker, plus a drink at the bar, and can vouch for the centre's great atmosphere.

People in this area of central Worthing are lucky to have it on its doorstep.

It's the envy of other localities which have been trying for years to find a suitable meeting place in which their community activities can be concentrated.

Just ask Broadwater Community Association about its difficulties in finding and funding a suitable place for just such a purpose.

So why is County Hall even considering destroying the Sidney Walter concept for what, to me, seems just a bureaucratic procedure to find the most convenient answer to a problem on the education front.

Has it not occurred to them that if we take out the sort of facilities for young people which are offered by places like the Sidney Walter Centre, then this could lead to even more youngsters engaging in anti-social activities — and the eventual need for a larger referral unit?
I refuse to accept that all other alternatives have been explored.

Even if a new-build solution is off the economic agenda, the local list of planning applications is full of schemes for converting this or that redundant building into flats or offices.

Let's see a lot more effort in this direction, and all power to the protesters against this ill-judged scheme.

And talking of protests, there is an increasing head of steam building up over the increase in off-licence outlets.

South Broadwater Residents' Association is incensed over alcohol licence applications for two new stores — Mace, in Victoria Road (including a late-evening take-away), and Tesco Express, at the bottom of South Farm Road.

The association says this will double the number of alcohol retailers in this area of Worthing, and if I were a local resident, I, too, would share their concerns about a potential increase in anti-social activities on my doorstep.

But with so many precedents having already been set in the present drink-all-day culture, I don't hold out much hope of these applications being rejected.


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