Worthing gets new conservation area

In September, 2023, a conservation area encompassing Marine Gardens and the surrounding buildings was proposed by the Worthing Society to Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee, as part of a conservation area boundary review.

The decision to approve the new area and the boundary review was made by the council’s cabinet member for regeneration Caroline Baxter (Lab, Central) and Adur District Council’s cabinet member for regeneration and strategic planning Becky Allinson (Lab, St Mary’s).

Changes to the Steyne Gardens conservation area were also approved as part of the review, extending its boundaries to include Beach House Park up to Lyndhurst Road car park, and the Beach House Grounds along Brighton Road and the beach cycle path up to the Splashpoint leisure centre.

Following a public consultation last year, there were no objections to plans for the Marine Gardens, although residents suggested a need for garden improvements and to restore Worthing Lido, which council officers said they would look into.

Steyne Gardens also saw no objections, with residents suggesting some public realm improvements to the area, such as street furniture, which were noted by officers. The Goring Hall conservation area’s boundaries remained the same, although residents asked for the Goring/Ferring Gap to be included within it to help protect it from further development.

Officers said in the report this was not the purpose of a conservation area, which is to conserve ‘special architectural and historic interest of a place’, adding Historic England supported this view. They said Historic England instead suggested they identify the gap as ‘positively’ contributing to the ‘setting’ of the area, as they agreed it formed part of the ‘significance’ of the area.