Regeneration '“ call to use local firms

A Bognor Regis town councillor has called for the town's regeneration to be created by local companies and workers.

Conservative Simon Fyfe, who was elected for the town council's Marine ward in May, said he hoped Arun District Council lobbied for a percentage of the rebuilding of Bognor town centre to be carried out locally.

'We have facilities nearby which provide people with suitable training and qualifications to enable them to be part of the industry and then, hopefully, to build part of the Bognor regeneration project.

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'Bognor desperately needs the proposed regeneration to ensure its future,' said Cllr Fyfe. 'We need to be attracting businesses to the area to provide jobs and a brighter future for our children and the proposed regeneration scheme is a start.'

'My company is based in Crawley where there is also a large regeneration project about to commence,' he told the Observer.

'Crawley Borough Council has now recognised the importance of using local labour and how this helps to provide a sustainable local economy. The government needs to be doing more to promote the construction industry to school children.'

Bognor town centre is set to undergo a 100m transformation on the Hotham Arts Centre and Hothamton car park sites from next year. Entertainment facilities, shops and flats are among the proposals.

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Cllr Fyfe discussed the regeneration ideas when he met shadow foreign secretary, and former Conservative party leader, William Hague at a dinner to mark the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict.

He is campaigning hard for a cut in small business corporation tax and for further help to provide apprenticeships in the building industry. He also met Lord Tebbit at the lunch to add to other Tory notables, such as David Cameron and George Osborne, whom he has met recently to put his views.