£7m hope for town centre

THE firm behind a failed bid to build an 18-storey tower block in Newhaven has come up with a £7million plan to redevelop a key area of the town centre.

Brighton-based developer Sign of Four wants to replace existing, mostly redundant, shops in Bridge Street with new homes, shops and leisure facilities.

The company said that if the development went ahead it would create a clear and positive image that Newhaven was open for business.

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The 50,000 sq ft development would cover the area currently occupied by shops at 1-15 Bridge Street which were built in the 1850s.

In their place would be a mixture of residential and commercial facilities, including 40 apartments occupying a maximum of eight storeys above four ground floor shops, a restaurant and underground parking for 29 cars, motorcycles and cycles.

A quarter of the apartments would be affordable homes designed for key workers.

Sign of Four director Tony Smith, said the scheme represented an exciting and realistic attempt to regenerate one of the four key development sites in the town centre.

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'There is currently no existing contemporary commercial space in what has now become a dated centre and new homes are much needed.

'Our planned mix of uses will regenerate the site, create an additional community of around 100 people, bring families back to the town centre, give it more of a 24-hour lifecycle by allowing street life to develop and signal a clear and positive image that Newhaven is open for business.

'It would provide a gateway to the eastern town entrance, break down the barrier of the town wall and give Newhaven an attractive entrance from both the railway station and the port.'

The building has been designed by Brighton-based Farmiloe Architects who won a Sussex Heritage Trust ar-

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