Popular Shoreham tree tree saved after campaign as housing plans amended

Housing association Hyde Group plans redevelop the former Adur Civic Centre site in Shoreham, having been given permission to build 159 affordable homes on the land.

However, a Grey Poplar tree – next to the Duke of Wellington pub in Brighton Road – would initially have been felled as part of the scheme.

Adur District Council organised a series of meetings to ‘listen to the wishes of the community’, who wanted the tree to remain. The council then worked with Hyde to ‘come up with new proposals’ that would ensure the poplar will be saved.

A variation application will be submitted to Adur’s planning committee by Hyde. This will see the shape of the development amended, including less ground floor commercial space and the relocation of eight apartments – ‘so that the poplar tree can be retained’.

Steve Neocleous, cabinet member for regeneration and strategic planning, said: “Our officers spent lots of time talking with protesters to listen to their concerns and I was pleased to have spent some time with them too, as well as the local community as a whole.

“We have taken on board how important this tree is to them and then asked Hyde to go back to the drawing board to find a way to save it.

“And thankfully we have found a way to do that as well as provide much-needed social housing for local people. This brownfield site is perfect for delivering such an important project.

“We remain committed to breathing new life into these sites and ensuring people have modern, environmentally-friendly homes that they are proud to live in - but we’ll always take into consideration the views of the community.”

The overall number of apartments will remain the same and the Hyde ‘remains committed to delivering 100 per cent affordable housing’ on the site. The Local Plan policy requirement is only that a minimum of 30 per cent must be affordable.

Steven Morrice, Hyde’s group director of development and sales, said: “The new development will provide much-needed, highly energy-efficient new homes for local people. We intend to seek approval for the changes through a variation to the approved scheme.”

Shoreham Poplar Front spokesperson Darcy Harrison said the grass-roots community group is ‘delighted’ that Adur District Council and Hyde ‘have responded to our protest and tree-occupation’.

“This compromise design saves the Poplar tree from being felled whilst delivering the same number of dwellings on the site,” she said.

"This is a win-win outcome for the housing association, the council and our local community who will continue to benefit from cleaner air, better drainage and biodiversity on the Brighton Road with this mature tree left standing.

“We hope this serves as a good example to other councils and planning authorities of what can be achieved through positive engagement with tree-saving activist groups.”

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