Plea to remove Bognor's seafront shelter

At a residents' meeting held at Bognor Regis town hall, councillors, police officers and residents decided what they would like to happen to the shelter opposite Kings Court, on the Esplanade.

For the last eight years residents of neighbouring blocks have been plagued by anti-social behaviour within the shelter.

The meeting was chaired by town, district and county councillor Paul Wells, he said: "The problems in the shelter are not new ones, it has been going on for many years what we need to do is find a solution.

"During the summer months we have had issues with rough sleepers and the homeless using the shelter, we have had problems through the course of the day and towards the evening time."

Throughout the summer residents along the sea front have witnessed people sleeping, drinking and defecating in the structure.

Following a previous small-scale meeting between residents and councillors it was decided that residents from Kings Court, Berkeley Court, and The Esplanade Grande should be instrumental in determining the future of the shelter.

During the meeting Cllr Paul Wotherspoon, the council's cabinet member for the environment updated residents on the situation and reassured them that progress would continue.

He said: "We have looked into the possibility of removing some of the shelters brickwork and installing galvanised steel framework but that has proved to be too expensive.

"We have also been looking onto the possibility of anti social behaviour orders and a lot of progress with that has been made and is continuing."

Speaking after the meeting Esplanade Grand resident Joan Nickels, 53, said: "I think we might finally see some action, I have been reassured by what I have been told"

She added; "This has been a continuous problem and it needs to be sorted mmediately, it may not be as sever in the winter months, but it is still going on."

It had been previously suggested that removing the shelter could help to eliminate the problem, however fears that this would simply move the problems somewhere else were voiced.

Inspector at Bognor Regis station, Clare McKnight, said: "We have had some problems in the area and we are working very hard to tackle them.

"We are working hard to enforce the law and displace the group congregating around the shelter, but that does not solve the problem, we will continue to confiscate alcohol and punish disorderly behaviour, but what we need to do is make the shelter unattractive for the group to use."

Another possible suggestion put forward by county councillor Francis Oppler was the installation roller shutters which would be secured during night time hours.

"We need an immediate solution to this."

Options

Remove the seafront shelter altogether;

Change the structure into a concession or use it for storage;

Take out the internal walls and open the shelter up;

Install roller shutters which can be secured at night;

Remove the existing building and replace it with a shelter structure similar to other on the seafront