Bid to save lifeboat house

NEWHAVEN Historical Society has added its voice to an appeal to save an historic lifeboat house.

There are plans to knock down the disused boathouse on West Quay to make way for a new RNLI station.

In a statement to the Express the society said: 'It is with great concern that we learn of the proposed demolition of the Newhaven lifeboat house.

'There has been a lifeboat house on this site since 1867. Its loss would be another tragedy for the town, which has already lost much of its building heritage to the road builders and developers, and also a tragedy for the townspeople who have loyally supported their lifeboat station for nearly 200 years.

'The boathouse stands as a permanent reminder of a total of over 1,500 service calls and hundreds of lives saved.

'Surely the building could be incorporated into the new scheme and perform a useful function, not least as a memorial to the long standing traditions of the lifeboat service and the public spiritedness of the developers.'