DELAY HITS £53M PELHAM SQUARE SCHEME

NEW doubts over the future of Pelham Square were raised this week.

Regeneration company Sea Space revealed building work will probably not start until 2006 at the earliest '” and only if legal problems are solved and planning approval is given.

Conservative councillor Keith Bing said: "I don't think it will happen and I don't think it has the support of the majority of people. It would be very embarrassing for the council if their own proposal was refused by planning."

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The 53m landmark building project has been trumpeted as the symbol of Hastings' regeneration but is probably the most bitterly opposed by many people.

Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats campaigned for June's local elections in opposition to Pelham Square and won seats from Labour.

They now together hold a majority on the borough's planning board and would need a very convincing argument to get them to support the scheme.

Sea Space director John Shaw said he expected the proposal to be delivered to planning by Easter.

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Hastings Council is also working to change the legal status of the land opposite St Mary-in-the-Castle where Pelham Square is planned.

The council discovered in July the land is owned by a trust which was set up in 1893 on behalf of the people of Hastings.

At present the land cannot be built on for commercial development.

This week the council formally set up the trust, called the Hastings and St Leonards Charitable Foreshore Trust.

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It will be run by three trustees, one of which is the council's deputy leader, Jay Kramer. The other trustees will be people from outside Hastings who have a knowledge of local government issues.

Council leader Jeremy Birch said he hoped the trustees would be appointed by the end of the year.

But the council may bypass negotiations with the trust and seek a private Act of Parliament to change the status of the land instead.

This could happen in November next year at the earliest, meaning Pelham Square would be a legally-viable scheme in early 2006.

Cllr Birch said: "We are quite happy with the progress we are making. This is not a delay."

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