New homes on patch of land between Portslade and Fishersgate approved

The application, from Bailey Brothers Ltd to build at the end of Gardener Street, was given the nod by the planning committee on Monday (June 5).

Permission for an identical development was given in 2019 but has since lapsed.

The council received 19 objections to the plans as well as an 11-name petition, with one of the concerns being the safety of people using a footpath which runs along the east of the site on the border with Brighton & Hove.

Access to the site will cut across the footpath prompting several councillors to also ask questions about safety.

But applicant Lee Bailey assured them that an identical application has been submitted to Brighton & Hove City Council, which included all the measures being taken to ‘achieve a safe and gentle access into the site to protect users of the footpath’.

He added that work would also be carried out to made the footpath accessible to people in wheelchairs – currently it is reached via a flight of steps.

Mr Bailey said: “The height of the site will be substantially reduced from where it is [and] the footpath will be lowered by almost a metre.

“What this provides is a disabled wheelchair access. It reduces the slope onto the footpath so it will then be able to be used by wheelchair users – at the moment the steps there don’t comply to any regulations whatsoever.”

To view the application, log on to planning.adur-worthing.gov.uk and search for DM/1859/22.