Sunday 30 November 2014

Ferry Road Development under threat!

Hello and welcome to my blog. I'll dive straight in because the "delightful improvement to Ferry Road shopping area"  is under threat.
     It is under threat because 274 members of the public objected to the redevelopment on the grounds of loss of parking. As a result, the Council are recommending that it is changed.
     However, some of these objections may have been made after reading the erroneous petition circulated earlier this year by three businesses on Ferry Road. 
It said, 
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF FERRY ROAD PROPOSALS
1. The area in front of the four shops at the north end of Ferry Road is to be paved over and therefore parking spaces will be lost.
2. The parking bays outside the other shops in Ferry Road will remain with a 1 hour restricted parking in place.
3. Double yellow lines will be in place on the rest of Ferry Road.
4. Parking charges are to be reinstated at the car park.
5. The pedestrian crossing is being relocated to the east of Ferry Road. 
   BUT there will not be double yellow lines along the rest of Ferry Road. Only four parking spaces will be lost, all of which are outside the three business that have objected.          
    "Our clear understanding is that parking will still be allowed on the western side of the road, by the flats. This has been confirmed by Adur District Council.  If the recommendation to amend the plans is accepted, it will certainly cause lengthy delays, particularly as there is a requirement to find extra funding. Both our District Councillors have already told me they are unhappy with the report and its recommendations which makes no reference to SBRA or Adur District Council support - or the fact that the mailshot, which resulted in so many objections, was incorrect," said Joss Loader, Chair of Shoreham Beach Residents Assocation.
    If you want to oppose the recommendation that the plans to improve Ferry Road are changed please make your views known at the
PUBLIC MEETING at SOUTHWICH COMMUNITY CENTRE ON WEDNESDAY 3rd DECEMBER at 7.00pm
     Our Councillors, Liza McKinney Ben Stride and SBRA chair, Joss Loader, will be attending the meeting but they will NOT be able to persuade the committee to vote against the recommendation without support from beach residents. 
     Thanks for dropping by and maybe I'll see you on Wednesday.

6 comments:

  1. Just a shame that no one was informed of the public meeting till, in my case, now. This is just another way of denying proper debate.

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  2. Hi Peter. We didn't know either and now we're moving heaven and earth to be there because this development is too important to be kicked into the long grass. I'd urge you to go because we need numbers. Thanks for commenting.

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  3. Hi, what was the outcome of the public meeting?

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  4. Hi Martyn. Although a number of us were there, Ferry Road was taken off the agenda because WSCC had suddenly been made aware of a legal issue concerning a public hard. This has to be dealt with before the committee can look at the application again. They don't meet again until February. I understand that this means that the improvement scheme will be put back by 12-14 months. I'm seeking reactions/explanations from SBRA and ADC at the moment and will blog more fully on the outcome when I hear back from them. So in short, the outcome was that some of us had a chance to show how disappointed/angry we were at the decision to put the thing on ice and I raised the concerns I mentioned in this blog. It was all very frustrating indeed! A campaign has now started to get the work done (see footwear tied onto the wooden fencing at the south end of Ferry Bridge) and a petition will be up and running shortly. Hope this helps and thanks for reading my blog.

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  5. Thank you for the update Liz, albeit not good news! My heart sinks every time I approach the south side to cross the bridge as I think it looks dreadful. I know the issue is bigger than that, but I just feel its unfinished look gives a bad impression of the area. Glad I've found your blog and I will check back for updates.

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  6. Thanks Martyn and I share your view. If you are a member of New Shoreham by Sea Facebook page there is a lively discussion going on about how the community can make its views known about the decision and WSCC has a "Talk with us" facebook page too - its at www.facebook.com/adurtalkwithus. So pleased that you are going to revisit.

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