Decision delayed on flats at Worthing college’s campus

Greater Brighton Metropolitan College wants permission to redevelop land in the north-west corner of its Broadwater campus, formerly Northbrook College, to build 23 new flats.

The vacant refectory building, which has been redundant since the canteen moved into the main college building, would be demolished and the college’s car park reduced in size.

Members of Worthing Borough Council’s planning committee deferred the application on Wednesday (August 26) to allow officers to seek to negotiate changes to the massing and design of the proposed block of flats fronting on to Carnegie Road.

One of the principle concerns was with the set back top fourth floor and its bronze dark cladding, which was described as ‘hideous’ by one councillor and a ‘carbuncle’ by another.

Neighbours, particularly those in Carnegie Gardens opposite, voiced strong objections to the building, labelling it overdevelopment and raising concerns about overlooking and loss of privacy.

These concerns were echoed by county councillor Bryan Turner and in a statement read out from East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton.

They both also raised concerns about the loss of educational land.

But Jon Rollings, chief operating officer at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, said they had extremely limited opportunities to access capital funding and had to make the best of their physical resources and property.

A number of councillors mentioned the need for extra housing and planning officers warned that they were vulnerable at appeal due to a lack of a five-year land supply. They also suggested overlooking would be a difficult ground to refuse the application on given the distance from the proposed building and the properties in Carnegie Gardens on the other side of Carnegie Road.

Although Martin McCabe (LDem, Tarring) and Paul Westover (Con, Central) voiced support for approving the application, the rest of the committee backed a deferral.

Helen Silman (Lab, Heene) said: “The fourth floor looks quite ugly and it’s not coherent with the rest of the building.”

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