Rustington concerns over retail park proposals

About 80 people packed a parish council meeting room on Monday night (February 4) for a presentation by Totem Commercial on its plans for a site west of Mill Lane and alongside the A259.

The developers claim their scheme, for five large retail units and a drive-through restaurant, would create up to 300 jobs, but many of those speaking at Monday night’s meeting feared the retail park would have an adverse effect on Rustington’s shopping centre.

Mike Broomfield, of Owen Electrical, in The Street, said trade went down for his business and for a hardware shop in the village when the Focus DIY store opened years ago. “It closed recently, and the trade came back,” he said.

“We can only assume, if and when your units open, that our trade will go down again.”

Jonathan Best, of Blue Sky Planning, agents for Totem, replied: “We want to provide outlets that will complement existing stores, and bring trade into Rustington.”

He pointed out that the units would be occupied by companies selling household goods for which people were having to travel elsewhere at the moment, to places such as Chichester, Worthing and Shoreham.