How caravan centre wants to help pull in extra visitors into Bognor Regis

Hundreds of holidaymakers could be spending more time and money in Bognor Regis.

The Riverside Caravan Centre wants to be able to open more than 100 of its caravans for two extra months a year.

The request is to overturn a planning approval from 1950 which restricts the Shripney Road site to welcoming visitors between March 1 and October 31 only.

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A planning application put in by S Cornelius to Arun District Council on behalf of the centre seeks to enable 109 caravans to be occupied from March 1 to January 2.

A statement by the centre's leisure consultant Aimee Cannon, of Humberts Leisure, said overturning the 59-year-old restriction would be good news for Bognor's economy.

"It is submitted that this proposed extension of season on a small area of the park will not only benefit the business in terms of financial stability but should also benefit the local community in terms of increased spending, particularly during off-peak times of the year.

"These benefits are typically broken down into two categories:

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* Direct spending by visitors on local tourist attractions, at local shops and restaurants/pubs; and

* Indirect spending, employment of local people and increased spending by the park on maintenance and repair, typically involving either the use of local companies or materials bought locally if carried out by the site owner.

"The variation of the condition would not have a detrimental impact upon the character of the area as there would be no change to the physical appearance of the holiday park.

"There will be no impact on the appearance of the caravans themselves. Being static caravans, they are already on site or able to be replaced."

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She explained the proposal concerned only about 2.91 hectares of the 42 hectares and a small number of the total of 656 pitches on the entire caravan site.

The selected area was on the eastern part of the centre to the immediate south of the large shops which front Shripney Road and Rowan Way.

This section of the centre was less likely to flood from either the adjoining Aldingbourne Rife, or the sea, than the rest of the holiday site.

Three warden units among the caravans received planning approval from the council last year for year-round occupation by security staff.

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